RWBY Chronicles: Book 1
by TheGreenTiger
Summary: Team RWBY has arrived at Beacon, and there's a lot to do! Mostly schoolwork. But that doesn't mean they don't know how to have fun! But what happens when the creatures of Grimm aren't the only enemies that they have to worry about? With fear, hatred, and anger around every corner, will teamwork, trust, and even love keep teams RWBY and JNPR together? Cover by XepherKL, DeviantArt
1. Prologue

_**Reviews are greatly appreciated, as this is my first fanfic!**_

**Prologue:**

_A lot sure has changed. When I started teaching here, I thought things would be simpler. I thought things would be easy. Well, that was true at the start. But now the world is changing, and not for the better. _

_How can I teach my students to fight monsters, when the monsters are not too different from us? There are people now that are just as monstrous as the creatures that we were sworn to protect others from._

_Roman Torchwick, the White Fang, where will it end? Soon, Beacon will become an academy to train soldiers, not Hunters and Huntresses. _

_Why is that—_

"Lost in your own world again, professor?"

"Headmaster! No, no, just a little reminiscing. You know, about how it was before."

"Really? Well, then you have been reminiscing for the last almost two hours. Is there something that you need to talk about?" The grey-haired, bespectacled Headmaster sat down across the table from the older, however not at all weakened teacher. He took a sip from the coffee mug that he always seemed to be carrying around, and set it down gently on the table.

Professor Lokhart sat back, running his fingers through his dark hair, and sighed.

"You know, Ozzy? When we first met, it was only my third year teaching here at the academy. I was one of the first in my field to actually be teaching the uses of Dust to students. Before then, it was almost common knowledge what Dust was and what it could do. I didn't think anyone so new to the scene as you would be able to understand what it was that I was doing. But I was one of the first that you approached. I didn't know why. To this day, I still don't."

Ozpin just grinned in that smug way that he always does, and looked at Lokhart in a way that made him think of a man who was mocking someone.

"Colin, I came to this academy because I wanted to be able to teach, and to lead, and to learn. I knew that a person in your position could only be doing the same thing. You were a pioneer of sorts. Being able to use Dust is something that not everyone understands any more. If there was something I could learn, it would be from you."

Now it was Lokharts time to have the dubious expression.

"You think I really believe that?"

"No, I don't, but there wasn't much that you didn't doubt. In fact, if I remember, before I was chosen as headmaster, you were one of the first to portray your feelings against it. What was it that changed your mind?"

"Time, mostly." Colin didn't like where this was headed. "Along with a series of extenuating circumstances that basically made up my mind for me."

"I see." That was all Ozpin said for a short while. Before Lokhart became uncomfortable with the situation, Ozpin broke the silence. "What was it that you were thinking about?"

Glad that the subject had been changed, but only slightly, Lokhart leaned forward again in his chair, and with an almost conspiratorial whisper said to the Headmaster, "We are here to teach, correct?"

"Yes." Ozpin didn't give any sort of clue that he was bothered by this approach.

"And we're here to teach young, prospective students how to fight monsters, the creatures of Grimm, correct?" Lokhart was beginning to have doubts that this conversation would proceed much further.

"Correct," replied Ozpin, very matter-of-factly. He took another sip from his coffee. "I can tell that something is weighing you down, Colin. Please, continue."

Lokhart, now feeling slightly squeamish, pressed on. "What if those creatures, were less monster, and instead were more human?"

Ozpin pondered this for a moment, leaving Lokhart in an ever-growing shadow of doubt. He took another sip of his coffee, and stood up. As he turned to the door, he looked back.

"I think you have too much on your mind, Colin. We don't train soldiers. We train warriors. You should be more worried about things that are going on here, rather than current events in other places. Good night, professor." Ozpin walked out, leaving Professor Colin Lokhart, alone at the desk in the library.

Not feeling any better with that answer, what little of one it was, Lokhart gathered his things and went on his way to his own office. As he walked down the empty dark corridors, he ran into another student wandering the halls. It was obvious that he wasn't really paying attention, as he almost walked directly into the professor around a corner.

"Oh, e-e-excuse me, professor. I didn't see you there." The young man had a look of almost fear on his face.

"It's quite alright. Are you having some difficulty sleeping? Excitement, perhaps?"

"Excitement?" The student seemed puzzled by the question. "What's to be excited about?"

"Why, the tournament of course. The festival. Aren't you going to participate in the livery? The fun?"

"Oh, yeah, that must be it. Of course, professor. If you'll excuse me, I should try and get some sleep for tomorrow." The student hurried off into the dark.

_Strange, I didn't recognize that student. Must have been the dark. Could hardly see his face._

Lokhart continued on to his office, locking the door behind him as he entered.

_**Edited: Author's Note: **Lemons will appear at some point in this story. I would just like to say that they will not be a main focus of the story, and won't appear very often. Some fan favorites like White Rose and Bumblebee might make an appearance, but it's not guaranteed. _


	2. Chapter 1

_**Reviews are greatly appreciated!**_

**Ruby**

Ruby Rose woke up on a Friday morning, rested and ready to go. Which is actually fairly strange for her. Lately she had been sleeping until the latest possible moment. And even then, not quite as awake as she should be.

Ruby glanced at the clock: 6:37.

That gives plenty of time to get ready for the day. And what a day it was going to be, too. In preparation of the Vytal Festival, the entire Academy was given the last half of the day off. That meant shorter classes, and more fun!

Ruby jumped down off of her bed, and noticing that all the others were still asleep, she walked quietly out the door, and down the hall to the showers. After coming out refreshed and clean, she began to hear sounds of activity coming from other doors. She could hear the distinct voice of Nora coming from the door to Team JNPR, obviously also very excited to have only half a day. She wondered just how Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren could stand that at all.

Just before she got to the door, her sister Yang walked out, most likely on her way to the restroom.

"Hey sis!" called out Ruby. "How are you doing today?"

"Oh, Ruby," said Yang, barely stifling a yawn and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I didn't expect to see you up so early. What's the reason?"

"Oh, you know, probably just excited. There's a lot to do today!"

"Well, at least someone has the energy for anything today. See ya in a while, sis."

Yang shuffled off, letting out a big yawn on the way.

Ruby entered the room, to see Blake and Weiss also getting prepared for the day. Things were still a little tense between the two, but she decided that she wouldn't let that get in the way of either of them having a good day. Blake knew to stay away from Weiss, at least for the time being, so Ruby knew that she wouldn't be a problem.

"Good morning, team RWBY! Did everyone sleep well? I hope you're ready for today. We have a lot to do."

Weiss, always wanting to be the first to get her opinion out, stood up from lacing her boots, exclaims "I hope it's definitely better than the last few days." She then moved to the mirror and proceeded to brush the tangles out of her silver-white hair.

Blake, not falling for the bait, was just putting the bow on hers.

"Yes, Ruby, I'm fairly excited. But don't forget, we still have class."

"Oh, I know, but that doesn't mean I can't think about what we'll be doing afterwards!" Ruby was just pulling the last of her uniform on. _And don't forget the cape._

"We all know what Blake will be doing," said Weiss, with no small hint of the iciness that was meant to accompany her voice. "She'll probably want to go and talk to that faunus boy. What's his name, Sen?"

Seeing as this could go bad fast, Ruby attempted to intervene.

"Weiss, we already discussed this. Let's wait until Blake is ready."

"Oh, yes, we talked about it," continued Weiss, sarcastically. "We talked about how she almost betrayed us, and left us wondering where she was for two days!"

"Weiss, that's enough!" Ruby stepped closer to her, trying to create a barrier between the two. Blake, however was open to making her own comments.

"Weiss, that was almost a week ago, now. And I've already told you, things are different. Besides, his name is Sun. Sun Wukong. And he's nicer than most anyone else here. Especially you, as of late." Now Blake was furious, and stood up facing Weiss, her facing turning red.

"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?" Replied Weiss, no longer advancing towards Blake, but not stepping down, either. "Are you saying that we don't care about you? That we don't want you around?"

"It sure seems like it, sometimes!"

"Hey, knock it off you two!" Ruby really didn't want to have to deal with this. The argument may have been between the other two, but it was _her _team, and she wanted to make sure everything was good between them all.

Of course, she was ignored. Weiss just continued to rant, and Blake just stood there trying not to lash out at her.

"Look, Blake, that's not at all what's going on." It was obvious that Weiss was making an effort to calm down. "If you had only just told us that you were a faunus, then we wouldn't have cared. It's the White Fang that I don't like."

"And I already told you, I'm not a part of that anymore! It's not who I am!"

"I don't want to hear it." Weiss began to gather up her books. "I don't care what your past is. I only care what you do now. Don't go out on us like that again, understand?"

She stormed out of the room before Blake had time to respond. She almost stumbled into Yang on the way out. Ruby chased after her just enough to see the end of her ponytail disappear around the corner down the hall.

"Weiss!" she called out to her. Too late, though. "Ugh, she's so difficult sometimes."

"So," said Yang. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, nothing," said Blake as she gathered up her books for the day. "The heiress just decided that today would be a good day to argue, again."

"Now Blake, you know she didn't mean anything by it." Ruby came back in, also gathering her supplies for the day. "She's just a little hurt that you didn't come to us to begin with. And to tell you the truth, we all were. She just needs a little extra time to sort things out with herself before she does anything else."

"And who can blame her," continued Yang. "She doesn't exactly have the best of history with…other, faunus." She glanced at Ruby, and cringed slightly at the glare that she received from her. "Sorry, that was a little insensitive." She began to quietly gather her own belongings.

"It's alright, Yang. I know you didn't really mean anything by it. It's a little different for everyone."

The three stood there awkwardly for a moment, none of them realizing that the others were ready to go.

"So, awwkwward." Started Ruby. "How about we all go get something to eat? It's only 7:30, and I'm starving."

"Sis, you just want some cookies," replied Yang as she ruffled her younger sister's hair on the way out.

"So, there's nothing wrong with that." Replied Ruby, a little indignantly. "I just like to eat things that taste good. Isn't that what food is for?"

"You also need to eat healthy. How else are we gonna fight the next Nevermore we encounter in the forest?"

"Besides," smirked Blake, "It was your fault we even had to fight it in the first place."

"Hey, it was a good idea! At the time. Besides, how else were we going to get there on time? And anyway, we made it didn't we?"

"Yes, but you also brought down half of the ruins that were there." Blake looked at Ruby with a serious expression.

Ruby looked down at the floor, and said quietly "No one was using them anyway." She grinned a little and stuck her tongue out at Blake. All three girls began to laugh.

"You guys are the greatest!" Exclaimed Yang as she hugged both of them.

They all jumped a little at the appearance of pink-clad, red-haired Nora Valkyrie.

"Good morning, Team RWBY! What's so funny? Are you guys doing animal noises? I can sound like a sloth!"

"It's alright, Nora, I think we're okay for now." Ruby looked past her and noticed Ren just coming out of their room. "Hey Ren, do you guys want to join us for breakfast?"

"Sure, that sounds good. Nora, are you trying to sound like a sloth again," said Ren with an exasperated sigh.

"Hey, I'm not trying, I've perfected it," exclaimed Nora with an upraised finger.

"Hey, where's Pyrrha and Jaune," asked Blake.

"They're still asleep," replied Ren. "Ever since a couple of weeks ago, they've been spending a lot of time together late-night training."

Ruby knew exactly what it was that started the whole thing, but she also knew that Pyrrha wanted to keep it a secret. Why, she didn't know, but she also didn't want to know what could anger the usually calm, however extremely powerful warrior.

"Well, they need their sleep! We have a lot to do today," shouted Nora as the five of them made their way to the cafeteria.

They all got their breakfast, and saw Weiss sitting by herself at a table. They all joined her, sitting quietly at first, until Jaune and Pyrrha showed up just a few minutes later.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" asked Jaune.

"Hello, everyone," said Pyrrha in that formal way she always does.

"Hey, Jaune, Pyrrha." Greeted Ruby. "Are you guys going to do anything later with the half day? Anything you have in mind?"

"Well, not really." Replied Jaune. "I didn't really think about it. I think I just want to sleep for most of the day."

"Yes," continued Pyrrha. "We've been training fairly extensively. Jaune has made excellent progress."

The two looked at each other. It was just a fleeting glance, and no one seemed to notice it. Ruby did though.

"Well, that's good to hear." Started Yang. "If you guys want, I was thinking—"

"Hey, turn it up!" Someone called out in the background.

Everyone drew their attention to the nearest vidscreen, to see what was going on.

"Welcome back to Vale News Network, I'm Lisa Lavender. Our top story, earlier this week another daring raid on a large dust shipment at the dockyards. Police have not officially confirmed any suspects, however it is believed that nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick may have been the culprit. Other sources claim it to be the White Fang, saying that Torchwick wouldn't have been able to pull it off by himself. No connection can be made, except for the fact that the dust came from the Schnee Dust Company, who has had a long history with the White Fang. Luckily, the bandits were stopped by a group of girls from the Beacon Academy. Headmaster Ozpin has officially declared no interviews will be made by anyone from Beacon."

"We should really thank Professor Ozpin for covering that up for us," said Blake. "I'm sure it wasn't easy doing so."

"Yeah," replied Ruby. "But I wonder what happened to Penny? I mean, it was mostly her that did anything."

"Well, whatever happened," continued Weiss, "I'm glad that whoever it was, was stopped. That much dust going missing would have been hell for my dad."

Glad to see her calmed down, Ruby turned to Weiss.

"How much dust was that, Weiss. I mean, how valuable could all that have been?"

"Well, considering that just one of those containers can hold about four tons of dust, I'd say that just one of them would be worth almost quarter of a million Lien."

"Wow," replied Jaune with his mouth half full of food. "What could anyone do with all that dust? I mean, there's not a lot of uses for it, right?"

"Actually, there's quite a bit that it can be used for." Started Blake. "It's just that not a lot of people know how to use it properly. Stories say that in the dark ages, when dust was first discovered, it gave every person the ability to control nature itself. That was how we conquered the creatures of Grimm, and it was what allowed us to become what we are today."

"That's exactly right, Blake." Weiss smiled at her. "Not many people have the desire to learn what dust can do anymore, since not everyone needs to fight monsters. I, on the other hand, have extensive training on just how to use it in combat."

"I know," replied Ruby. "I was almost blown up on the first day of school, remember?"

"Yes, I do, and I thank you for not making any more of those same mistakes again."

The clock-tower rang out, signifying the beginning of the day.

"Well, eight-o-clock." Said Ren. "We better get going."

"Right!" Replied Nora. "We don't want to be late to history!"

The two walked off, Nora skipping the whole way.

"Come on Jaune," said Pyrrha as she grabbed him by the collar. "Wouldn't be good to have your team there, and you absent."

"Aww, but I'm still eating," complained Jaune just as he was taking another big bite out of his stack of pancakes.

"Well, I guess that means we better get going too. To combat, class, right Ruby?" asked Yang.

"Yep. Maybe Professor Port will actually do some teaching today, instead of regaling us with one of his many exploits as a 'young and prosperous man out to do some good,'" she said in her best impression of the large man.

All four laughed and started on their way.

Right before they entered the classroom, Weiss pulled Ruby to the side.

"Hey, about earlier today," started Weiss. "Thanks. I don't think I would have lasted too much longer without you there to get in the way of my hot head."

"Don't worry about it." Replied Ruby. "It's my job as team leader. Besides, what else are friends for anyway?"

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, friend."


	3. Chapter 2

**_As always, all reviews are greatly appreciated!_  
**

**Weiss**

As the pair walked into the classroom, Weiss Schnee couldn't help but think about just how much of a friend Ruby had become to her since they started their time together here at Beacon.

_I mean, it didn't start out so well. When we first met, she almost exploded. Yes, now it was funny, but then it could have done some serious damage. And now that I look back, I realize that I did overreact quite a bit. But hey, now we're on a team, and nothing will change that. It will be good to be friends with everyone on it. _

_My next worry is Blake._

As Weiss and Ruby found the rest of their team and sat down, Professor Port walked in, not at all looking dissimilar to a walrus, all the way down to the ridiculous mustache. Ruby decided to try her hand one last time at impersonating the large man, much to the agreement of the other teammates.

"Alright class," began the professor in his booming, slightly nasally voice. "As you know, tomorrow is the Vytal Festival, and as such, Professor Ozpin has declared that today will be a half day of classes. So that means shorter classes. I have prepared a special treat for you. Today we have a guest speaker: Professor Lokhart, who teaches the history and uses of Dust. You will be attending his class next year, but he has agreed to come in today and discuss with you what you may or may not know."

Everyone looked at the door at the side of the room, to find an older, yet not at all old-looking gentleman with dark hair, proper clothing, and slight limp in the left leg, walk in and take his place at the podium.

"Thank you professor." He had a calm, but firm voice.

Weiss turned to the rest of her team. "I didn't know we had a professor who taught about dust? What is there to teach?"

"I don't know," replied Yang. "But let's hope he's not boring so we can get out of here and continue on our day."

"As most of you know," continued Lokhart. "Dust is a vital aspect of everyday life. It's used to power every machine, every vehicle, every little thing that makes it easy for us to live. But what I'm sure most of you don't know, is where dust comes from. If I'm not mistaken, we have someone in this class that could tell us where it comes from. Ms. Schnee? If you would?"

Taken aback from being called out, Wiess stood up, and a little embarrassed from having to talk to the rest of the class, began speaking.

"Dust comes from quarries all around the world. It is mined in a crystalline form, usually found in a multitude of colors. These crystals are used to power anything from small, everyday items, to our weapons. A much more pure, powdered form of dust is used to power our vehicles and cities. However it is much more volatile, and because of that it is also considered a dangerous weapon by itself."

She stood there for a few seconds as the professor just looked at her. "Thank you Ms. Schnee. You explained that much better than I probably would have been able to."

Weiss sat down with a sigh of relief. She notice Ruby watching her, but didn't look her way.

"That was about half of my lecture right there, so I guess I'll just continue on. Dust was first discovered thousands of years ago. Where it was first found and how it was first used remains a mystery to us. However early records show that dust was a vital part in the essential formation of modern day civilization. The legends say that before dust, man only barely existed on this planet. It was a dark time in our history. The creatures of Grimm roamed the planet, seeking us out, and all but destroying us before we had time to counter them. But when dust, named after our supposed beginnings as humans, was discovered, it gave us the ability to fight back."

"You mean like our weapons, professor?" asked another student near the back.

"Yes, however the weapons from these dark times were much different than the ones we use today. Today our weapons are designed to keep enemies away from us. Back then, humans fought close, and as such almost every weapon was infused with dust so much that the weapon itself was dangerous if handled improperly. As such, people began to use dust as the weapon itself. But not in the way that most of you may think. Dust has certain, inherent properties that given the right training, allow you to change the very laws of nature to your will. Fire, water, lightning, all of it in the palm of your hand. It was common for people back then to be able to use dust in this way. However, with advances in technology and even society, the need has become less and less.

With you, however, you hunters and huntresses, dust is only just becoming a part of who you are. Throughout this year, and for the rest of your time here at this academy, you will become more familiar with dust, and maybe some of you will begin to realize that you have a knack for it. That's all I have today, professor. Thank you all."

The professor walked out the door he came in from, and Professor Port came and took his place. "Well, that was quite an intriguing presentation by our very own Professor Lokhart. Thank you professor. And so that's all the time we have today. Have a good day students, and I hope to see many of you participating in the combat tournament later over this weekend. Sign-up sheets are located outside my office."

"Wait up for me, guys." Said Weiss. "I have a few questions for professor Lokhart."

"Alright, but don't be too long." Replied Yang. "We're supposed to meet up with Jaune and them for some fun later."

"It's a good thing that this was the only class that we had today," added Ruby.

"Don't worry, it won't be too long."

She hurried to the front of the classroom and to the side door.

_Why did he call me out like that? I'm sure others could have given the exact same information. Even Blake. She seems like she knows what she's talking about._

She walked around the corner just in time to see the professor disappear around the corner.

"Professor!" she called out to him. "Wait, I have a few questions!"

Professor Lokhart turned back around the corner. "Ah, Ms. Schnee. I was hoping you would come see me. I just didn't think it would be this soon."

Now a little confused, Weiss slowed her approach to the much taller man.

"Wait, you were expecting me to come talk to you?"

"Well, maybe not expecting it, but there's a reason for me wanting to speak with you. Tell me, just how much of your fathers work do you know? Besides the running of the family business, that is?"

Caught off guard by the sudden questioning, Weiss just stammered. "Uh, not a whole lot I guess. Things were never really easy for me, living at home. My father was always busy, so we didn't really have a whole lot of time together. Especially in recent years."

The professor looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"And he never told you about his work? About what he does besides running the company?"

"Well," began Weiss, now a little uncomfortable about the subject. "I heard some rumors from other family members and workers that my father seemed to always be home later than he should be. That he seemed to disappear for small amounts of time occasionally. But I'm not sure what you're asking professor. What exactly does anything have to do with my father?"

"Hmm. Nevermind. It's nothing really too important. Anyway, you had some questions for me?"

A little confused by the whole confrontation, Weiss couldn't remember what she was going to ask the professor.

"Uh, no, professor, I can't remember what it was." Now feeling a little embarrassed at having the tables turned on her so suddenly, she just wanted to get out of there."

"That's alright." The professor smiled, although to Weiss it seemed like it was forced. "Just come see me in my office when you can remember what it was that you were going to ask me. Now go on, I'm sure you and your friends have some great fun for today planned."

"Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks professor."

"Anytime." The professor walked off, continuing down the corridor, and disappeared down the hallway to the right.

_Hmm. I wonder what his interest in my father was about. Maybe I should write a letter home, and see what's going on._

Weiss made her way back to the rest of the group, and found Blake sitting on a bench reading a book, as she was most often found to be doing in her spare time. Yang and Ruby were waiting there discussing something. Weiss couldn't tell what it was until she got closer.

"Yeah," said Yang. "Something seemed a little off about him. I mean, he didn't really teach us anything, and his presentation was really short."

"Even Professor Port seemed a little offset by it. I wonder what was going on?" asked Ruby.

They turned to Weiss as she approached them.

"Hey Weiss," greeted Yang. "What's goin on? You look like you just saw something unpleasant. Did you realize that the professor actually wears a toupee? There's no way that hair is real."

"Huh? Oh, nothing like that. He just had a few odd questions for me."

"Like what?" asked Ruby.

"Oh, some things about my father and the company. I don't really want to talk about it right now. Anyway, Yang, you said that you had something planned for us?"

"Yeah, I talked to Pyrrha and she and I agreed that going out on the town would be a great way to start off the weekend. All eight of us were going to go out and try to find some students from the other schools, and see if any of them wanted to hang out."

"Oh, yeah, that sounds great. I need something to distract me for a while. I just have something to do first. I have to head back to the room."

"Okay. Meet us in the courtyard. See ya!"

The other three took off in the direction of the main door, while Weiss headed to the dorm.

As soon as she got there, she pulled out pen and paper, and began writing.

_Hey mom, how are things at home? Things here have been doing really well. I was placed on a team with some really great friends. It took a while to get this close to them, though. We didn't start out very well. My team leader, Ruby, almost caught me on fire with a little accident involving some dust. It's okay though, nothing happened. And her sister Yang is okay. She's a really good fighter. And my third teammate, Blake, she's really okay too. It was hard for us to become friends from the start, but recently things have become a lot smoother. One of the professors here, his name is Lokhart, had some strange questions for me today. He teaches the history and use of dust here at Beacon. I didn't even know that was a thing! Anyway, he asked me about dad and some of his work outside the company. I didn't know what to say. I hope things are doing well with you and dad. I miss you guys. I hope I get to see you soon! Love you!_

She decided to leave out the part about Blake being a Faunus. She didn't even consider mentioning the White Fang. She knew that would only complicate things back home. Besides, she didn't have any problems with Faunus, and neither did her mother as far as she knew.

She signed it with a flourish, and enclosed it in a silver-white envelope, one that was specially made for her family that had the family crest embossed on it. She sealed it, addressed it, and took it to the school post office. She headed out to the courtyard to see the rest of her team, and the members of JNPR waiting for her. Ruby and Nora were by themselves, doing what looked like attempts at animal impressions. Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha were discussing what could have been fighting techniques if Jaunes flailing about meant anything. Even Ren and Blake were discussing something. What that was, was anyone's guess, being as they just sat there, intent on their conversation.

"Hey guys!" she called out the rest of them, waving.

"Hey, Weiss!" responded Yang. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, what are we doing first?"

"Well," started Pyrrha, "we decided that a good place to start would be the park in Vale. I know that when I first came here, it was one of the first places I wanted to visit. I just haven't had the chance."

"Alright then, let's go." Weiss really was happy to have at least this little distraction from school.

And besides, what could be the harm in going out to have some fun with friends?


	4. Chapter 3

**_Just like before, please review! All reviews are greatly appreciated!_  
**

**Yang**

Yang Xiao Long was actually very excited to be meeting new people. Especially people from entirely different kingdoms. Meeting new people was something that she was usually good at. Except for that first week here at Beacon.

_Trying to introduce myself and Ruby to Blake didn't start out so well. And then there was Weiss. Things didn't go so well with her either. But after we all became a team, it was much easier. And then there's Pyrrha. We're really good friends now._

The eight companions were on their way to the edge of the cliff that served as the docking port for the airships that moved between the city and Beacon Academy.

"Hey, maybe if we find some others, we could go out with them." Proposed Ruby. "Take them out to a restaurant or something. You know, show them the fun side of Vale."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Replied Weiss.

They made their way onto an airship, all eight of them talking and jabbering about different things.

_We sure look like an odd bunch of people, don't we? No one would be able to say that me and Ruby were sisters. And there's a good reason for it. Me with my golden hair and lilac eyes. Her with her dark hair and silver eyes. Two years younger than me anyway. I'm glad that my family was able to take her in. I didn't think it would be easy for her after her mom passed away. _

_When my parents approached me, saying that Summer Rose had died, I was very sad. Me and my family were really close to her. I remember playing with Ruby as a child. We were really close from the beginning. After her mom was gone, she seemed to close herself off, to become very inward. My parents thought adopting her would be the best thing for her, considering she didn't really have too many other options. She had her uncle Qrow, however he was always busy teaching at Signal. When Ruby became of age and began her training at signal with him, she really came into her own. It's great to see her so excited and ready to go here._

"Hey, Yang," Pyrrha's voice cut into her ramblings. "You haven't said anything for the last five minutes. We're almost to the dock at Vale. Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah, just fine. Just thinking about some things. Nothing to concern yourself with."

"Tell you what," started Weiss. "How about we split up? We can look through more of the park, and we can find others easier that way. We can meet up in the center in an hour or so, and go from there."

"That sounds like a great idea Weiss!" replied Ruby. "Jaune, you and your team can take the trail going left, and I'll take mine on the right."

"Oh, ah, alright. Yeah, that sounds good. Come on guys, let's go."

JNPR headed off on their own.

"So, guys, where should we look first?" Blake asked the rest of the team.

"Well," continued Ruby, "One of my favorite places here in the park is the lake. I'm sure someone from not around here would think it a great place to go."

"Yeah, but the lake is pretty big." Replied Yang. "Maybe we should split up and go around each side? Weiss, you go with me, and Blake, you and Ruby go together."

"Alright, come on Ruby. You and me can go on the North side."

"Sure. Maybe we can find Penny. It's been almost a week. She'll probably be looking for us as well."

Yang watched the two go off, and turned to Weiss. She had an almost puzzled look on her face.

"Yang, why did you send your sister and Blake off like that?"

"Nothing in particular. I just think that Ruby and Blake are better working together. I know that they won't get into any trouble."

"Right, like I'm going to believe that was your reason. Tell me Yang, why did you want to separate us?"

"Ugh, come on. Let's just see if we can find some other students."

The pair continued walking along the path, not saying anything. Yang was a little embarrassed to have been called out. She knew there was something bothering Weiss, and she knew there was something bothering her. She just didn't know if Weiss was really the best person to be talking about it to.

Finally, the silence was broken by Weiss.

"So, Ruby seems to be doing a lot better. At least better than when we started here a few months ago."

"Yeah, she's really come into her own here. I think being the team leader has really done some good for her. I was a little worried when I found out that she would be moving here two years ahead of her time. I guess Ozpin saw what was so special in her."

"Do you know what's so special in her?"

Yang thought about this for a few seconds. "You know, I'm not sure. It's one of those things that can take time for other people to get adjusted to. I always thought it was just her pure skill. But we all know that that's not entirely always her good trait."

"That's the truth." Replied Weiss, with a smirk. "You know, when we first got our team assignments that first week, I was furious that Ozpin chose Ruby over me. Actually, over any of us. I didn't really think that she would be a good leader. That day in the forest, we didn't really get along."

"I noticed. What was with the sudden change in heart?"

"I don't really know. She had said something to me along the lines of wanting to be able to show me that she could really do this. I thought of it as showing off. But I came to realize that she just wanted to let others know that she wasn't helpless. But when that Deathstalker showed up, I soon realized that she really did need help."

"That's very noble of you Weiss. Has your opinion changed much since then?"

"Yes, but for the better. And not without a little help from others. Mostly you and Blake. But she's changed a lot also."

"I noticed. That was one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? And what specifically did you mean?"

Yang was feeling a little bad about this, but she needed someone to talk to, and she thought that Weiss would be at least a little bit more understanding. _Now though, I'm not too sure._

"It's pretty obvious that me and Ruby aren't actually sisters, isn't it?" Asked Yang, unsure of how Weiss would react to this sudden change in tone.

"Yeah, it's definitely one thing that I noticed right off the bat. What's your point?"

"Well," continued Yang. "Coming up soon, it will be ten years since her mother, Summer died. Every year around this time, she usually gets pretty upset, and starts to forget about everything else."

"A reasonable reaction, I would think."

"Yeah, but I start to feel so bad for her, that all I want to do is just sit around with her and try to make her feel better. Now though, this year being her first here at Beacon, I don't know what I'll do if the same thing happens. I've been thinking about some things that we could do to try and take her mind off of it, if it comes to that."

"Well, she's not far from home. You guys both come from Vale, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then maybe we can find a way for some of her friends from Signal to come to Beacon for a day."

"Yeah!" Replied Yang. "She hasn't talked about them, and as far as I know, she hasn't really written to them in a while either. It would be a good change of pace for her. Maybe I could talk to Glynda or Professor Ozpin about it."

"Talk to Professor Ozpin about what?"

A voice from inside the trees suddenly came down on them, accompanied by a blonde-haired, monkey-tailed Faunus.

"Yahh!" Yelped Weiss.

"Whoa, there!" Yang jumped a little. "Sun, you scared us. What where you doing in the trees?"

"It's Yang, right? Oh, nothing. I saw you guys walk in here with a group of others, and thought that I would come say hi. 'Sup, Princess?" He said with a grin.

"You! What are you doing here! I hardly think we are on speaking terms. We barely know each other, besides that you took Blake from us for nearly two days! And I still don't know how I feel about you either way, even if you did help her out at the dockyards! Besides, 'Princess,' is not a title that you have earned to call me."

She turned her back to him, stomping her foot.

"Hey, whoa," replied Sun, putting his hands up defensively. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just forgot your name for a second. Sorry. Besides, at the time, Blake just needed a little companionship. Since then she's told me about what happened, and I agree. With both of you."

"What do you mean?" Asked Weiss, over her shoulder.

"I mean, you both have valid points. I agree that your reaction was probably a little too much, but I also understand where you're coming from."

"And how could you understand that?" Asked Weiss as she turned to him, fists clenched at her sides. "What could you possibly know about where I'm coming from?"

"I know that you're part of the Schnee family," began Sun. "And I come from Atlas, where one of your father's largest quarries is located. The White Fang doesn't have the support of every Faunus. You know that. What about Blake?"

Yang could tell that Weiss almost lost it then and there at the mention of the terrorist group. But she held it together. Yang was actually impressed by how well she kept her composure.

Weiss took a deep breath, sighed, and visibly relaxed, if only a little.

"Yeah, you're right. But that doesn't mean we are anywhere near on equal footing. I just find it a little convenient that you were able to lead Blake to such a large Dust shipment from my father's company."

"I saw it on the way in, what can I say?"

"So, Sun?" Started Yang, glad to be changing the subject. "What have you been up to? Done anything interesting lately?" She started walking along the path, trying to get them moving, and hopefully in better spirits.

"Oh, not really. Just exploring the city. Vale is a really neat place. There's a lot to do, and so many things to see. Just yesterday I took a stroll through The Forest of Forever Fall. So beautiful."

"Yeah, it is a great place. Full of Grimm, though."

"I know, I ran into an Ursa while I was out there. Wasn't too much trouble, it was a small one."

"Well, you're lucky. Usually when we go out, they're pretty big. Sometimes it takes two or three of us to take one down quickly."

"Hey, look!" Interjected Weiss. "There's Ruby and Blake now!" She waved over to them. "Looks like they found some others."

As they approached, Blake visibly perked up at the sight of Sun. As soon as they arrived, she stayed closer to him.

"Yang, Weiss," started Ruby. "This is Xavier and Amy. They're from Mistral."

"Wow," replied Yang. "That's pretty far away. How's it feel to be so far from home?"

Xavier, the shorter of the two, maybe only just taller than Ruby, replied "It's definitely different. We'd heard so much about Vale and how beautiful it is, that since we're finally here, we don't know what to think."

Xavier had light auburn hair, worn neat and short, and wore dark blue, loose fitting clothing, with gold trim. His eyes were a bright green, contrasting perfectly with his outfit.

Amy, almost as tall as Pyrrha, was even more adamant about sharing her feelings.

"Everything here is so wonderful! The city is nice, the food is nice, the people are nice. I don't know what to say! We were hoping to be able to a small tour of the city and the surrounding area. I heard that The Forest of Forever Fall is one of the most beautiful places on all of Remnant!"

She had dark green dyed hair, and fiery, amber eyes. Her outfit was similar to Yangs, but the shorts were pants, and the coat was looser. All of it a majestic red, with some dark gray accents.

"Well, that's definitely one way of looking at it." Replied Weiss. "But it's also dangerous. That's where we do some of our training fighting monsters."

"And don't forget the Emerald Forest." Continued Ruby. She turned to the newcomers, very excited to be telling someone else this story. "For Initiation, we were sent into the Emerald Forest on a mission. We were supposed to find these relics, which turned out to be chess pieces. Whatever piece we got, the other three that got the same one would be our teammates for the rest of our time here. We all got the White Knight. But on the way back, we ran into a lot of trouble. We had to fight off a full-sized Nevermore, and our friends on another team had to fight off a Deathstalker. We fought for almost a full hour, before we finally killed them." Ruby straightened up and pointed at herself with her thumbs. "I finally delivered the killing blow."

"You don't have to act so smug, you know." Said Weiss. "You wouldn't have been able to do it without our help."

"It was my idea though." Muttered Ruby under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! So, what kinds of monsters have you guys fought?" Asked Ruby of the Mistrallians, trying to draw Weiss' attention off of herself.

"Well, nothing so big as a Nevermore!" Replied Xavier excitedly. "Mostly just a couple of Beowolves, maybe some Ursi."

"What about that King Taijitu that we fought?" Responded Amy. "That was a tough one."

"Yeah, but there were three other pairs, and it was already weakened from the winter cold."

"You should go ask Ren about fighting a King Taijitu. He took one on by himself during initiation." Said Blake.

"Wow, he took one by himself! In the first week? He must be a really good fighter."

"He is!" Responded Yang. "In fact, there he is now, with the rest of Team JNPR." She started waving over to them. "Hey guys, over here! We have some new friends for you to meet!"


	5. Chapter 4

**_Please review, as all are appreciated!_  
**

**Blake**

Blake Belladonna was actually really glad to see Sun show up out of nowhere. She wouldn't admit it to the rest of her team, but she was pretty sure that they could guess that anyway.

_So far, Sun is the only other Faunus that I have come in contact with. I mean, there's Velvet, but I don't think she knows that I'm a Faunus. But that makes me think, how did Sun know so soon?_

Ruby began introducing team JNPR to the Astrals.

"Xavier, Amy, this is Team JNPR. That's their leader Jaune, this is Nora, Pyrrha, and here's Ren."

Jaune just let out a small "Hi there." "Hello there!" Said Pyrrha. Ren just stood there and did a little wave. "Nora Valkyrie, here to be of assistance!" Said Nora, excitedly standing tall and shooting a quick salute to them.

"So, Ren?" Started Xavier. "I was told by your friends here that you took on a King Taijitu all by yourself. How did you do it?"

"Well, it wasn't really anything that impressive. I just remembered my training and—"

"Oh, don't be modest, Ren!" Interjected Nora. "I saw the whole thing! After he fought the beast for four hours with his guns—"

"It was only two minutes. They were knocked out of my hand."

"He resorted to a long, furious struggle, bare hands!"

"That parts true."

"And after taking one head of the beast in one hand, and the other head in the other hand—"

"It was way too big to do that."

"He popped the head off of one end, and bit the head off the other!"

"Nora?"

"Yes, Ren?"

"That's not true, and that's disgusting." He turned to the visitors. "I used my training and aura to defend myself. After blocking a lunge from one head, I was able to break off a fang and used it to kill that head by piercing it through the eye. I then took the other fang and went through the head of the other."

"Well," replied Amy. "Both stories sound so impressive, I don't know which one to believe!"

Sun began motioning for Blake to follow him. After they walked from the group a ways, very aware of the disapproving glare coming from Weiss, and the interested glances from the rest of them, Sun turned and looked directly at her.

"So," he started. "How have you been? How have things been with the ice queen?"

"Her name is Weiss, and things have been relatively calm. She still doesn't seem to be able to get over the fact that I was part of the White Fang. No matter what she says, I think she really does want to know what happened."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know," replied Blake with a sigh. "I can't tell if she's genuinely curious, or if she's just looking for a reason to anger me."

"Would she do that? I mean, if she really was concerned for you, why would she try to spite you?"

"Well, she tried this morning once. It didn't go too far. If not for Ruby's intervening, then she wouldn't have been the one to break it off."

"So she stopped the argument?" Said Sun, sounding surprised. "That sounds like progress."

"Yes, I think she's really starting to—"

An explosion rang out from across the park and down the street.

"What was that?" Yang shouted.

"Come on, guys!" Yelled Ruby, already in combat mode. "We need to find out what happened!"

All eleven of them started running towards the column of smoke rising into the sky.

"Wait, you guys run _towards_ danger?" Xavier called out. "But, isn't that, you know, _dangerous?_"

"Uh, yeah, that's why we're Huntsmen and Huntresses, you dolt." Replied Weiss.

The group soon came upon a very hectic scene, unfolding rapidly across the street. About two dozen men, all in black suits and brandishing blood-red swords were running about, gathering people up and taking them as hostages as the police arrived.

"I know these guys!" Shouted Ruby. "They're Torchwick's men!"

"Another dust shop!" Called Ren.

"They must have realized that their recent activities have forced them all to change their working hours." Replied Pyrrha. "They're getting brave."

"Or desperate." Said Nora.

"I just hope that guy Roman isn't here." Said Jaune, not entirely without fear.

"If you see the guy, don't be afraid to call him out!" Yelled Yang. "I have some questions for the man!"

"You and me both!" Shouted Blake. She didn't want the same thing happening here as at the dockyards.

"Look, I'm sure it's safe to say that the guy has affected pretty much all of us in some way. But let's think of our priorities!" Warned Weiss. "We need to save the civilians first!"

The large group of warrior-students was beginning to attract the attention of both the baddies and the cops.

"Hey, you guys get out of here! This is no place for kids, even if you are training to fight monsters!"

An unknown voice called out from the direction of the smoking storefront.

"Oh, I disagree officer."

A man with purple hair and gray-shaded coat and pants appeared out of the smoke.

"Why hello there kiddies. Roman said that you might show up. Unlike him, though, I won't let you escape."

One of the police help up a megaphone. "This is the Chief of Police! Stop right where you are. You are under arrest. Surrender yourself and any and all dust you have taken, and you will be treated accordingly."

The mysterious man just looked at the police officer, and with a single, smooth sweep of his hand, crushed the vehicle that the officer was taking cover behind. Down to less than half of its original size, in less than half a second.

This threw the Chief back by a couple of feet, and onto his rear. He immediately brought his own weapon up to bear.

"Fire, fire!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Lifting both of his hands, the attacker created some sort of field around himself, bending the metal of the bullets around himself, and gathering them up. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the hot metal right back at the police men. Most of them missed, but a few officers ended up with some really serious wounds, and the Police Chief dead.

Now the officers, all of their rounds spent, began changing out magazines. Bringing his hands toward himself, the mysterious man drew every single weapon out of their hands, and crushed them into a small ball, dropping at his feet.

The two Beacon Academy teams just looked at the carnage and to each other with looks of total awe on their faces.

"Did he just.." began Blake. She couldn't believe what just happened.

_He doesn't have any weapons, it doesn't look there's any glyphs appearing anywhere. Not even Dust! Even Weiss' glyphs need Dust to power them. How is he doing that!_

"Yeah, I don't know what you guys were planning," shouted Xavier. "But this is way too much for a night out on the town! I'm out!" He turned and fled the scene as fast as he could, which was pretty fast, since he was using his aura to give himself a speed boost.

"Yeah, I'm just going to let you guys handle this one!" Agreed Amy. "Grimm are scary and all, but none of them could do that! Hope you guys make it out of this one!" She followed Xavier just as quickly.

"You guys should follow your friends there and head out of here, before someone gets hurt." He just looked at them with a devilish grin on his face.

"Not gonna happen, bud!" Replied Ruby.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Hissed Weiss. "We can't fight him? Did you see what he just did!"

"It looks like he can only affect metal. It's sort of like my semblance."

"I was thinking the same thing, Pyrrha." Said Ruby. "Move fast, and don't shoot anything towards him. RWBY, we'll go after the hostages. JNPR, get I close and try to distract him. As soon as we've freed them, we'll come help you out."

"I don't like this plan!" Shouted Jaune. Blake brought out her Gambol Shroud, swinging it around on the ribbon, ready to go. Ruby brought out Crescent Rose, and Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster, the Dust chambers glowing as she cycled between the different elements.

"Ren, you switch with me. He won't be able to deflect any ranged attacks from me!" Shouted Weiss as she began to run headfirst towards the man.

"Copy that!"

Blake noticed a small smirk on Weiss' face as she glanced at Ruby. Even after all that they had been through already, Weiss was still a little jealous of Ruby getting the leadership spot? Blake couldn't think about it for too long, as everything erupted around her.

"Go go go!" Shouted Yang.

"I'm with you, Blake!" Shouted Sun. "Let's try and distract the ones going after everyone else. They need the help!"

"Right!" She jumped into action, using her extreme flexibility and speed to perfom some crazy, aerial maneuvers that brought the blade of the collapsing pistol-swords into the chests of multiple enemies at once. Sun followed suit, bringing out his collapsible staff, and spinning it around, creating blurry lines accompanied by high-pitched whistles through the air into the head and gut of a black-clad thug.

Blake could see out of the corners of her eyes that Ruby was using the power given to her from the firing of Crescent Rose to fly around in all different directions seemingly at once. If it wasn't for her cat-like reflexes, Blake's eyes wouldn't have been able to track the movement. Yang was doing the same with Ember Celica, dashing about with astonishing speed.

Ren, being as quick and nimble that he was, was running around, almost keeping up with Ruby and Yang, was using his aura to knock enemies up into the air, away from the hostages. This allowed them to escape, and gave Ruby and Yang the chance that they needed to come in for the final blow.

Blake was using the range afforded her by the ribbon attached to her weapon to prevent anyone from getting too close to either of them, while Sun's extreme speed and power was preventing anyone from getting close to her and himself.

As the main force of thugs was wiped out with astonishing speed, they were able to finally turn their attention to the main enemy in the center of it all: the purple-haired mystery man. While he didn't have any weapons, his extreme speed, strength, and apparently very strong body-armor was making things very difficult for the rest of JNPR and Weiss.

Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha would come in from different sides, swinging with all their might, Jaune with his sword and shield, Crocea Mors. Pyrrha with her spear/rifle, Miló. Even Nora, with her grenade powered hammer Magnhild, wasn't able to do any extensive damage. At least the Nevermore was distracted. This guy wasn't even blinking. After a rush attack by the three, Weiss would use the power of her glyphs to charge at the man, striking him with a Dust charged attack from her rapier. However, not even these seemed to phase the man. He was just too fast, and too strong. He would swat them all away, like flies running into an oversized newspaper.

The five on the outside gathered together.

"Ruby, what do we do?" Asked Blake. "They can't penetrate his defense!"

"I don't know what to do! We can't fire on him, because even if we didn't hit one of them, he could still block that."

Just then a ranged strike from Myrtenaster struck him in the chest, knocking him back ever so slightly. He very quickly regained his composure to deflect a dual attack from Nora and Pyrrha.

"Wait, I've got it!" Shouted Ruby. She launched herself to where Weiss was standing, while the rest of JNPR continued fighting him.

It was obvious that they were beginning to tire, Jaune especially.

_He may have improved a great deal since he first arrived, but it's not enough in this type of fight._

Ruby came flying back to the four bystanders.

"Alright, I want you to surround him, and when I say fire, do it!"

"What?" Shouted Sun. "Are you crazy? Didn't you see what happened earlier?"

"Hey bud! My sister's had some pretty crazy ideas before, and they've almost always worked. Give it a shot!"

"Almost always isn't exactly reassuring!"

"Just do it!" Yelled Blake, as she jumped off to take up a position right behind the seemingly invincible man.

The others followed suit, equally spaced out in five points surrounding the man.

Ruby glance between them all to make sure they were ready. With a quick nod from all of them, Ruby shouted out "JNPR, fall back!"

Nora jumped out of the way, using her hammer to propel herself forward. Nora had to almost drag Jaune out of the way, his energy and aura so spent.

The grey-clad criminal was momentarily taken aback by the sudden calm in the attacks. He realized very quickly, however, what was going on.

"Now!" Shouted Ruby, as the five fired on him with all of their weapons. Ruby's and Yangs weapons creating deafening booms, Sun's Gunchaku firing in rapid succession with every swing of his arms. Blake's own weapon fired quickly and silently with every pull of the trigger. Ren's Stormflower putting out a seemingly endless hail of dust powered projectiles.

Just as soon as they started firing, a large flash from the direction of Weiss signaled that she had just used a ranged strike from her weapon. The white ice spell made contact, freezing the man in place. He was unable to move. However, he was not out of tricks.

"Clever, you red-haired miscreant!" He shouted at Ruby. "But not quite thought out all the way."

With an explosion of ice, the man launched into the air, and up onto a lamp post.

"I know I said I wouldn't let you escape," chided the man. "But everyone has to have their arch-nemesis! Have a wonderful evening, and don't forget to enjoy yourself at the festivities!"

Just then, a flying vehicle, the same kind used by Roman Torchwick and his gang flew overhead. The grey-suited man launched himself up, and apparently was able to stick to the side of the plane. It flew off, too fast for anyone to really see where it was headed.

Just then, police back-up was arriving, just in time to see a group of ragged huntsmen- and huntresses-in-training fall to the ground with exhaustion. If they were anything to judge by, Blake figured that the whole encounter lasted maybe ten minutes at the most.

The police back-up soon began moving through the fallen police officers scattered across the street, and a few even came to check on them. Quite a few had gathered around Pyrrha, who was holding Jaune in her arms, his head resting on her shoulder. After a quick glance over there, Blake was able to confirm that he had just passed out. She looked around, and realized that everyone else was close to the same. She was beginning to feel pretty drowsy no also.

_How can one encounter like that tire us out so much. Even the fights in the Emerald Forest were nothing compared to this afterward._

"Hey," said a quiet, yet calm voice from her right. "You alright?"

Blake turned to see Sun standing there. He had taken a good hit to the right side of his torso, and was holding his left hand there.

"You're hurt!" Exclaimed Blake. "You should go see the medics, right away!"

"Nah, it's just a bruise. It'll heal up in a few days. 'Sides, I don't think any of the medics here would be too willing to take a look at a Faunus, who was just involved in a huge heap of trouble."

"I think you're right." Replied Blake, realization just dawning on what had just happened, fearing what sort of punishment might follow this.

Compounding those fears, was the realization that she recognized the vehicle that was slowly driving up to the scene: An old-style black two-door, with the very distinct crest of Beacon Academy on the front and sides.

The vehicle came to a complete stop, and out stepped Glynda Goodwitch, her acid-green eyes piercing through her glasses, coming to rest on every single one of them. Blake noticed how her eyes seemed to linger on Sun, until she stepped out of the way to allow Professor Ozpin himself out of the car.

"Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc, would you please come here at this moment?"

"Jaune is currently incapacitated at the moment sir." Responded Pyrrha.

"Then would you kindly attempt to re-vitalize him, as I have some serious words to discuss with you all."

_**Author's note: **__This is the only time that I will be doing this. Please be assured that this will not be the only, and definitely not most exciting action scene to come. And for those of you who were dead-set on seeing some lemons, they __will__ come. (I don't know if I should be proud of that or not.) ;)_


	6. Chapter 5

_**Lemons Alert! (It's at the end for those of you who want to skip it, however I strongly advise against it.)**_

_**Yet again, please review since all reviews are greatly appreciated!**_

**Jaune**

Later that evening, the nine of them were all standing awkwardly in Professor Ozpin's office. Jaune was extremely uncomfortable.

As being the only one in the room that was incapable of truly proving that he belonged at the academy, he didn't think it wise to be in the one place that he wouldn't be safe from being forced to leave.

In correspondence with his garb, the Headmaster's office was primarily a dark green, with hints of grey here and there. It was a large, almost tear-drop shaped room, with the professor's desk at the smaller end. Completely covering one wall of the office were paintings of previous headmasters. The other, presumably with personal items of Ozpin's. Some things included large, old tomes, some odd trinkets he may have acquired through his years of travel, and some very fine weaponry. Some of it seemed so old, that it may have been the world's first attempt at automatizing the use of Dust.

Immediately behind the professor was a large vid-screen bearing the logo of Beacon Academy on a grey background. Professor Ozpin himself was sitting in the large, red leather chair that sat behind his large, green felt desk. Glynda Goodwitch was standing immediately behind him to his right. She was staring intensely at the group of students, but not angrily this time. This time around, her piercing green eyes seemed much dimmer surrounded by the almost oppressive green of Ozpin's office. The whole set-up would have been terrifying, if it weren't for the calmness of Professor Ozpin's voice.

"I honestly don't know what to say to you all." He began, right before taking a sip from his coffee. The space in his words was just as bad as his continued talking. "I thought that as students of this prestigious academy, you would be able to control yourselves."

Jaune couldn't do anything, except cower a little more.

"We're sorry sir."

Ozpin looked directly at Jaune. "You're not the problem, Mr. Arc. You and your team have only been brought here by necessity. I'm really talking to Ms. Rose and hers."

Jaune was already feeling a thousand times lighter at hearing that. _We're not being punished? Even after all of that? _

He glanced at Pyrrha, who also seemed to relax quite a bit. Although her relief was not as apparent, her calm demeanor winning over every time.

"I know, sir." Jaune could hear Ruby say from the other side of her older sister, Yang. She was obviously very terrified at having incurred the wrath of the headmaster. "We only wanted to help."

"Oh, I know exactly what you wanted to do. But did it occur to you that you may have been stumbling into something far greater than what you could have thought? Hm?"

At this, Ruby only looked at the floor, and kicked her toe into the heavy grey carpet.

Upon seeing her sister in such a fragile predicament, Yang spoke up, much louder than she needed be.

"Sir, she was only doing what she knew as a leader, and trying to be the better person. She gave her orders, and we followed them."

"It's not her ability to be good at giving orders, or her judgement on what being a better person is, that I'm questioning, Ms. Xiao Long. Or even your ability to follow said orders."

"So, what's the problem, professor?" Asked Weiss, also fairly timid.

_For a girl that can almost glow with power, she's pretty sheepish when she realizes that she can't do anything to change the outcome._

"What I want to know, is, why?"

"What…what do you mean?" Asked Ruby.

"I simply want to know why you decided to run straight towards the unknown. Why did you think that running towards an explosion, especially, was a good idea?"

"Well, we're here to protect people. That's what we're here doing training, isn't it? Learning to protect those that can't protect themselves?"

"True, however your job is to protect people from monsters. Not other people."

Ruby just continued to look down at the ground, almost about to just close in on herself.

Ozpin leaned forward in his chair, and looked at Jaune.

"Do _you_ think it was a good idea, Mr. Arc?"

"Uh, I uh…" Jaune didn't like being put on the spot like that. He was hoping that the whole thing was over once he learned he wasn't in trouble. "Well, like Ruby said, we, uh, just wanted to help, and we, well went to help, so I think it was, like, an okay idea, I guess?"

"What our team leader is trying to say, sir," continued Pyrrha. "Is that it was the right thing to do, and that we responded in everyone's best interest."

"I'm sure." Replied Ozpin, sounding not at all convinced that the feeling was shared among the entirety of team JNPR.

"This is the second time I've had to hide you from the public like this." He said, turning to the other four. "You're making it very difficult, Ruby. If you can't control yourself and learn when to just walk away, especially from another situation like this, then I may have to begin reconsidering your continued enrollment here."

"What!" Shouted Ruby, no longer caring about what seemed to be so interesting on the floor.

"But Professor," Intervened Yang. "She didn't know! And besides, what were we supposed to do, just let the robbery happen?"

"And what about the hostages?" Put in Blake. "Once we found out about them, we couldn't just stand aside and run the risk of them being killed!"

"And besides," said Weiss. "Whoever that man was, he mentioned that creep Torchwick. There's no way we were going to let him go after that."

Jaune was surprised to see everyone so willing to defend Ruby.

_Would my team do that for me if I ever needed help?_ Jaune wasn't too sure. He didn't really think of himself as the leader type.

"All of what you are saying is valid, however just because you are all going to become skilled fighters and become the unsung heroes of the world, that doesn't mean you have to become the heroes now." He scanned across all of them, looking each one directly in the eye as he talked. To Jaune it felt like he was scanning their soul. "Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." They all mumbled, wanting the tense engagement to be over as quickly as possible.

"Now, while I can't just let you all go, I don't want to really punish you either." Here, Glynda took out her scroll, and began messing with some tools on it. The main vid-screen behind them changed, to a list of students attending beacon.

"This is the roster of all the students here that have signed up to fight in the tournament. For your punishment, I am signing you all up, whether or not you were going to anyway." At that, all eight of their names appeared at the bottom of the list.

_What? But, I'm no good! How can he think that's fair! Of course I'm going to get knocked out right away._

"My reasoning, is that the tournament is designed for both team and individual combat. My hopes are that you can train well enough in the next week to be able to show off your new-found skills at the tournament on the final day. Both by yourself, and as teams of Beacon Academy."

Jaune glanced back and forth between all of his peers. He saw that everyone actually seemed almost excited, except for Ren, who didn't really seem to get excited about anything.

"You are all dismissed. Ruby, I want you and your team to head directly to your room. I have some questions of all of you that I would like to discuss in private. Jaune, you and your team can do as you wish. Mr. Wukong, please stay here. I have a few questions for you, also."

They all exited the room into the contrasting large, open, marble-lined hallway.

"Well, that was definitely intense." Said Yang.

"Yeah, but I don't think signing us up in the tournament was the best idea."

"Why's that, Weiss?" Asked Blake. "Aren't you comfortable enough with your abilities to do well enough?"

"It's not my abilities that I'm worried about. It's the whole team that I'm worried about. What if we don't do well? What if we make another screw-up like this one? How would that affect us here at the school? Because the way it looks like, if she doesn't do too well, Ruby may have to leave. And now it's up to us to make sure she does well enough so that doesn't happen!"

"Hey, that's not fair to Ruby." Yang turned to Weiss, looking like she was about ready to fight her. Jaune definitely did not want to see that.

Throughout the whole argument, Ruby just stood there, quietly trying to ignore it all and not letting it get to her.

Jaune moved next to her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure that it'll be fine. You have a really great team, and you're a really great team leader." He put on a smile. "What was it you said to me a few months ago? 'You're team needs you now. You have to be the one that's the strongest.'"

Ruby looked up at Jaune with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Thanks, Jaune. You're a good friend."

Pyrrha came over as well and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Ruby. We're all here for you. Right guys?" She said forcefully to the rest of the group. That got the attention of the arguing girls, and brought Yang over to hug her little sister.

"That's right. And no matter what, I'm proud that you're here, and glad that you're our leader."

"Yeah," said Blake. "You're one of the most understanding people here, and that's a great quality that I don't want to see go away."

"And besides," continued Weiss. "We may not get along the best, and I know that I can still be pretty difficult, that doesn't mean I want to see anyone on my team fail."

All four girls came together in a big group hug, with Ruby beaming in the center.

"Thanks you guys. I know that I can pull through this, no matter what Ozpin says. I'll make him see that he has no choice but to let me stay here."

"Yeah! Go Team RWBY!" Shouted Yang, throwing her fist up in the air. The other three followed suit, with a unison "BANZAI!" and went on their way to their dorm. JNPR headed off towards the direction of the food court.

"How come we don't have a team cheer?" Asked Nora. "Maybe we should do one that sounds like an animal."

"Nora," interrupted Ren. "I don't think it's possible to imitate a sloth."

"Oh, not sloths, silly. I'm over that. Now we can do giraffes!"

"Wow, okay. You guys coming? I'm starving." Ren said to Jaune and Pyrrha. Jaune was just about to respond when Pyrrha started talking first.

"No, I have a few questions for Jaune. Go on ahead. We need to go back to the room real quick."

"What for?" asked Jaune, confused.

"I want to get a head start on that extra training."

"Aww, Pyrrha, can't it wait? I'm really hungr—"

"No, it can't." Replied Pyrrha, almost yanking him off his feet, dragging him by the hand towards the dorm.

As soon as they arrived, Jaune just began complaining again.

"Pyrrha, it's late, I'm tired, hungry, and in case you forgot, we did fight a psychotic maniac who seemed to have the ability to bend the world around him. Do we really have to train?"

"That's not the reason I wanted to come to the room, Jaune."

"It's not?" Jaune just looked at Pyrrha, perplexed. _What could she possibly be asking that required us to be alone?_

Pyrrha just sat down on the bed, still holding Jaune's hand, bringing him down with her.

"You fought well, today, Jaune." She said calmly, looking at him very intently with those deep green eyes.

"You really think so?" Asked Jaune, becoming a little wary now.

"Yes." Replied Pyrrha, reaching around Jaune to hold his head in her hand. "And I think you deserve a real prize, other than just praise."

She leaned in and kissed him directly on the mouth. It wasn't a long, drawn-out affair, but it was enough to shock Jaune into realizing what was happening.

_Wow, I'm a lot more tired than I thought._

She pulled away, still making eye contact with Jaune.

"Pyrrha, I don't know if that's a good idea."

"And why not?" She asked, her green eyes seeming to sparkle with their emerald fire. She moved a little closer to him.

"Well, it's, you know, I…" Jaune was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

He had really thought that Pyrrha was extremely attractive since the beginning. He was barely able to admit it to himself until recently, let alone confide in anyone else his secret. He considered telling Ruby at one point, but the two red-haired girls had become fairly close friends, and he didn't want anyone to make any guesses. In hind-sight though, he figured that it was pretty obvious to the rest of the team, and to anyone else really. Ever since those late-night training sessions started to become less about training and more about just being together, he started to realize how he felt. He just had no idea that Pyrrha felt the same way. There were hints, but they were quick and subtle. He always just chalked it up to himself seeing things differently than they actually were.

"Well, it's because, of…" He really couldn't think of anything to say. He couldn't think of a reason to _not_ let this happen. He finally just admitted defeat and sighed. "I don't know what to say, Pyrrha."

"Then don't worry about it." She had this highly uncharacteristic grin on her face, much different than her normal stoic features.

She stood up and lightly pushed Jaune down onto his back on the bed. She turned around, her back facing him, and started working on undoing her long, flowing ponytail, allowing the scarlet locks to flow around her head and over her shoulders. She kept the crown and hair ornaments that were accenting her face, and focusing Jaune's gaze to her eyes as she turned her head slightly to look at him over her shoulder. She began working on the straps holding her gauntlets together. As she undid one knot and then the other, Jaune noticed for the first time just how slender her arms were. She quickly went to work on her breastplate, using her aura to undo the straps at the back. As the heavy metal fell to the floor, Jaune could make out a dark crimson tunic previously hidden underneath the gold-plated armor. It seemed to naturally cling to her body, no straps were visible at all. Jaune stared in quiet, uncomfortable awe as she bent over to undo her leggings, exposing thin, highly toned legs.

After undoing those and removing her boots, Pyrrha stood up to her full height, which Jaune admitted was not really that much taller than him without those high heels.

"Well, Jaune?" Her cheeks were a fiery red, after noticing Jaune's obvious excitement. "What do you think of this reward?" It was all she could do to maintain eye contact and not pick up her things and run out right then.

"I don't know what to think." Replied Jaune, quietly. "You're so beautiful, Pyrrha. I can't think of words to describe this moment."

"Then don't think," she said as she walked over to him, and climbed on top of him. "Just react."

It was then that Jaune began having doubts again.

_What am I doing here? What is she doing? Why am I letting this happen?_

His fears were instantly dissipated as she removed the under-tunic from her torso. Jaune realized that the only thing that was preventing it from falling to the ground was her perfect breasts, which hung bare right in front of his face.

He didn't get to enjoy the view for long however, as she bent over and planted another kiss on his lips. This one was indeed a long and drawn-out affair, her tongue intertwining with his and causing him to stop breathing for a second. He soon embraced it, wrapping his arms around her and trying to pull her closer.

But Pyrrha had other plans in mind. She sat back up, and not breaking eye contact the whole time, began gyrating her hips back and forth, the whole while removing Jaune's armor and clothing from his torso. As soon as his bare chest was exposed, she began running her lips up and down his torso, slowly going lower and lower towards his waistline. Jaune was nervous before, but this really took it.

She slowly undid his belt and removed his pants. But instead of doing anything down there, she climbed back up, sitting on top of him. Looking him directly in the face, she allowed herself to be taken.

The sudden pleasure caused Jaune to immediately sit up and hold Pyrrha tight. They stayed like this for several minutes, kissing each other intensely, never breaking eye contact. Soon, they were lying down on the bed together, still intertwined with each other.

Both of their auras were flashing, matching the beating of their hearts. Soon they began to pulse together, until they both increased in speed until neither one of them could stand it. Lips locked in agonizing pleasure, Pyrrha almost screamed into Jaune's mouth as she was finally released into pure ecstasy. Jaune followed suit immediately afterwards.

They just laid there for several minutes, breathing heavily, still not breaking eye contact.

Between her heavy panting, Pyrrha was able to let out a deep sigh, and said "Jaune Arc…"

"Yes, Pyrrha?" Replied Jaune, barely able to prevent the fatigue from the day's events from making him pass out.

"I love you, Jaune." Replied Pyrrha, closing her eyes. "And don't ever forget that."

"I love you too, Pyrrha Nikos. And don't worry," he responded, rolling onto his back, drawing the red-haired goddess closer to him. "I won't ever be able to forget that."

She was already snoring lightly, her head resting on his chest. Immediately after that, Jaune closed his eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, save for the image of his lover in his mind.

_**Author's Note: **__For those of you that made it to the end, I warned you! And out of those, you who are disappointed in the JauneXPyrrha, I told you that I would like to keep this story at least __close__ to canon. However, I know that White Rose and Bumblebee are fan favorites, so go to the poll and tell me which one you would like to see more. How soon it happens depends on your answer, so choose wisely! (Even though I know you have no idea what the conditions are.) Next chapter coming as soon as possible._


	7. Chapter 6

_**All reviews, are greatly appreciated.**_

**Ozpin**

Professor Ozpin waited, watching teams RWBY and JNPR walk out of his office.

As soon as they had exited, Ozpin turned to the remaining person in the office. The Faunus named Sun Wukong.

"So," began Ozpin, clearly and methodically. "You are still here."

"I guess, man. What's your point?" Ozpin watched the blonde-haired young man find an empty chair and sit down. He didn't try to stop him. He knew that this conversation would be difficult.

"Tell me, how is it that you got involved with RWBY today?"

"Well, it was like this old man. I was wandering around the city, since there's nothing really else to do. I had been walking around the park at that moment, since that was pretty much where I lived at the time. I saw them walking in, and decided to follow them a little. Finding the best opportunity to annoy Ms. High-and-mighty, I dropped in on her and the girl Yang. From there, Blake re-appeared, and I just stuck around. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"Mm-hm." Ozpin glanced at Glynda, seeing if she had any input on the matter. Of course, she did.

"Do you have any idea of the amount of trouble you are causing for us?" Began Glynda, her acid-green eyes looking to just blast through him. "We have been having to cover up your very existence, essentially. With the amount of controversy surrounding every one of these attacks, everyone is looking towards the Faunus community with some prejudice."

"Not to burst your bubble there, but that's been happening for the last few years."

"Yes, that's true," intervened Ozpin before Glynda could explode. "However, it has been confirmed that the White Fang is at least directly connected to these attacks. Having you appear both times alongside at least one of my teams, let alone the fact that they are there to begin with, has been problematic."

"Wow, I don't really see what the big deal is." Sun replied as he began to lounge in the chair in ways that it was most certainly was not designed for. "So what if I'm there when things go down? It's obvious that I'm not the bad guy, right?" He proceeded to pull out a banana, and began casually biting into it.

"No, you're not, and I know that. However some of the more, extreme, folk out there still hold on to some very powerful grudges against the White Fang and the Faunus. A few have come forth questioning what the link between Beacon, and particularly _you_, is. It seems that 'coincidence' is not a good enough reason."

"What do ya mean?" It was clear to Ozpin that Sun was not getting the message.

"Certain high value citizens in Vale have come forth, asking that I, on behalf of all of Beacon Academy, publicly denounce you, the Faunus as a whole, and team RWBY. I have no doubt that as soon as word of this gets out, they will request the same thing to me, and will most likely include JNPR in their threats as well."

This got his attention. Sun sat up, looking pretty worried. It was obvious that his look of fear was genuine.

"Publicly denounce? You mean, that's actually a thing, with real consequences?"

Now it was Glynda's turn to intervene again.

"Yes, and unfortunately for you, it is slowly beginning to look like that is our only option to get rid of this firestorm that has brewed up."

Sun glanced to Ozpin, to Glynda, and back again. Ozpin only sat there, and took a sip of his coffee, eyes not leaving the Faunus for a second.

"Wait a minute. She said 'beginning.' Does that mean there _are_ other options?"

Now it was Ozpin's turn to place on a grin.

"Why did you come to Vale, Mr. Wukong?"

"I already told you, I want to become a student at Beacon Academy."

"And just why exactly?"

"I already told you that too!" replied Sun, beginning to become visibly agitated by the Q&A.

"Please, remind me." Replied Professor Ozpin, reclining slightly in his chair.

"Ugh, I want to become a better warrior, so that I can go back home and try to put a stop the White Fang. They're causing problems not just for humans, but other Faunus as well. Whoever is in control has resorted to conscripting Faunus into their ranks, since we're all starting to realize just how bad and dangerous they are."

"Very touching." Replied Ozpin. He put his hands together in front of his face, with the two index fingers pointing up in a peak.

"But what can one Faunus, even one with training from one of the most prestigious academies in all of Remnant, do?"

This is where Sun got really serious, leaning in closer, and talking quieter.

"I plan to start my own training program. Underground warrior training, to build up a resistance. We need to fight back, and do it soon."

The two just stared at each other. Ozpin finally broke the picture-still moment and took a drink from his coffee.

_Starting to get cold._

"I will allow you to enter my school, but on one condition. And I pray that you meet it well."

"Sure thing, prof. Whatever it takes."

"I am going to sign you up in the tournament. You have to fight in the tournament, or you will not be allowed a single foot-step into this school. You have demonstrated yourself well enough on the news, now it's time to prove that you're capable against your peers. If you do well, I will allow you full enrollment status."

"Oh, thank you sir, thank you so much. Of course I'll fight in the tournament. I sort of wanted to anyway."

"Indeed. Now go. You are being temporarily assigned to RWBY. You seem to have no trouble locating them."

"No problem. You won't be disappointed!" Shouted Sun as he raced out of the room.

"I dare say I shan't."

After a few seconds, Glynda turned to him.

"That was a risky move, Sir. Although even I have to admit that it was better than falling to the pressure, or even doing nothing."

"Hmm." Ozpin just sat there, drinking out of his mug.

_Need fresh coffee._

After a few, silent moments, Glynda Spoke up.

"Professor, you still have to talk to team RWBY."

"Yes, you're right. I'll go do that right away." He stood up, using the assistance provided by his cane.

_After all these years, even the physical pain still hasn't gone away._

"Do you wish me to accompany you, Sir?"

"No, that will be alright." He began walking to the door. "What I would like you to do, is send a letter to our 'friends,' explaining to them that we won't meet their demands. Tell them that things are not quite how they perceive them to be."

Professor Ozpin walked out of the door before he could a proper response from her. He had many other things to attend to.

As he walked the halls, Ozpin began to think about his time, starting out here at the academy. He didn't really have the best of beginnings here either.

_In fact, Mr. Arc reminds me of myself a little in that respect. I was a good fighter, but I was socially awkward, thrown into a situation that I had no control over. It was overwhelming. What was it that kept me through that?_

After years of not thinking about it, he couldn't even remember what it was. But it was the appearance of one other this year that started things in motion. Thoughts and feelings that Ozpin was reluctant to let open.

As he dwelt on this, the headmaster suddenly realized that he was at the door to team RWBY's room. Glancing across the hall, he noticed that the room belonging to JNPR was silent. He didn't get the impression that it was empty, but it definitely wasn't active.

He knocked on the door a few times, and was greeted by the face of the golden-haired Yang Xiao Long.

"Oh, professor, we didn't expect to see you so soon."

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?"

"No professor, you can come in." He heard the slightly timid voice of Ruby from inside the room.

Yang stood off to the side to let the older gentleman through.

He saw Ruby standing tall in the middle of the room surrounded by her teammates. Ozpin could tell that she had been crying, however she hid it really well. He could tell just how much her teammates supported her.

"You have something to say, professor?"

"Yes, something rather important, and somewhat secret. Please, Ms. Xiao Long, ensure the door is closed."

Yang complied, locking the door also.

"Ms. Belladonna, a chair if you would?"

Blake quietly grabbed an extra chair from the corner.

"You can all sit down if you want." Said Ozpin, looking more towards Ruby as he did the same.

"That's alright, professor. I prefer to stand." Ruby replied. Calm, collected, she seemed capable enough as a leader. That's not why he came here, though. Praise is best spent on those that need it the most.

"I'm sure that I can say signing you all up for the tournament was not at all expected, correct?" He looked about the room. His eyes were greeted by nods from everyone there. "And I'm also positive in saying that you were all going to sign up anyway?" Again, nods. "Good, because I have come to you four for a very special task."

"What is it Professor?" Asked Weiss.

"Well, Ms. Schnee, it is a great honor for all of you. Every year, when the Vytal Festival is held, every fighting academy is set against each other in a rigorous tournament called the Guardian's Challenge that takes place besides the general entrance. This is a special event, in which the headmaster or headmistress hand-picks a group of students represent their respective school."

Realization soon dawned on all of the girls' faces.

"What are you trying to say, Professor?" Asked Blake.

"Well, it's as simple as this. These teams are considered the best of the best, and are thought to be the toughest, fastest, smartest students at the school. I have decided that you, Ruby Rose, and your team, are the toughest, fastest, smartest students that Beacon Academy has ever seen. I have chosen you to represent Beacon in the Vytal Festival in the Guardian's Challenge."

"Wow, Professor, that really is a great honor," started Ruby. "But are you sure? I mean with what happened earlier today, I don't know if—"

"What happened today is precisely the reason I chose you. The questions that I asked you earlier in my office? Your answers were just what I wanted to hear from you. From all of you."

"I'm sorry, Professor, but did you just say that us basically being crazy was good?" Questioned Yang.

"Not crazy," responded Ozpin. "Valiant. Courageous. You showed selflessness in the face of obvious danger. You showed ingenuity in the face of truly impossible odds. Being a hero is not just about being tougher, faster, or smarter. Being a hero, is showing the world that you not only know that you are, but aren't afraid to fall in case you aren't."

The professor looked at each girl in turn, and was glad to see that every one of them was smiling.

"Thank you professor, so much." Started Ruby. "We humbly accept your offer to make us Beacon's Champions."

They all stood up, and faced the professor, shaking his hand one by one.

"A handshake. I thought formalities like that had passed on, and were reserved for only the most formal events?" He stood up and was on his way to the door.

"No, Professor. A handshake symbolizes trust." Responded Blake. "You have trusted us with proving to the world that we can perform as the very best that can be offered. We trust you with your decision."

"Well, I hope that neither of our trust was misplaced. Good night, team RWBY. And don't think this means that you need to train any extra." He put on his best smile. "The festivities start tomorrow, and I want you all to enjoy yourselves. That's an order."

"Goodnight, Professor." They all responded as the door closed behind him.

On his way back to his office, the only thing that he could think about was getting one last cup of coffee.

He took one last glance towards the door to team JNPR. It was still quiet, save for the sound of snoring.


	8. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note: **__As I was thinking about how I would approach this chapter, I was perusing the stats on all of the other chapters. I noticed a fairly large number of views on Chapter 4, and was feeling pretty great about that. However, Chapter 5 had a noticeably smaller view count than the average. I was a little down because of this. It had come to my attention, however, that a few people thought it unnecessary to introduce Arkos so early. I took that into consideration, and have almost completely re-designed the original plot of this chapter even changing which character I would write with. I hope that this provides a good resolution. Don't forget, I am going off of canon. This story happens months, if not at least weeks, after the last time we see Jaune and Pyrrha at all in the series. Who knows what could have happened? And a big thanks to _crossargon _for some of the inspiration for this chapter._

_**And as always, please leave a review, as reviews are greatly appreciated!**_

**Pyrrha**

Pyrrha woke, relaxed, and feeling good. She lay there, comfortable, and feeling great about the day. She just lay there, not really wanting to do anything.

_Wait a minute, something's off._

She wasn't alone.

_Jaune._

Her eyes shot open, and she followed the body next to her until her eyes fell on the sleeping face of Jaune lying next to her, his arm around her shoulders. She had fallen asleep with her head on his chest, her hair ornaments leaving an impression in both her face and his torso.

_What were you thinking, Pyrrha? What did I do, what did I do? Why would you think that was a good idea? So unprofessional, so irresponsible._

She sat up, trying to make sense of what had happened last night. She remembers getting back to the academy after fighting that mysterious man, and that was when she started to feel strange. Actually, it happened around the time the fight was over. Seeing Jaune passed out on the ground, she began to feel afraid. That feeling had turned into a strange sense that something was just not right. Nothing really too noticeable. Just a tickling in the back of her mind. But as the night went on, it grew. She seemed to remember being extremely distracted, eventually almost becoming completely separated from the rest. The strange nagging feeling in the back of her head began to get to her in other ways as well. As her and her team walked out of Professor Ozpin's office, she glanced at Jaune. Just then, she began thinking…thoughts. It was just a quick little thing at first. But in just a few minutes, it turned into something else. She was compelled to act out those thoughts. The entire time, she was screaming to herself that she didn't need to, that there was no reason to take Jaune back to the room, and do what she did.

Glancing around the room, she saw that Nora and Ren hadn't returned from last night. That was good, as she didn't really want to deal with them. Especially Nora.

She stood up, letting the sheets fall from her body. She blushed, not sure why she was embarrassed, as no one was there to see her. Gathering her clothes and a towel, she walked out the door. Glancing both ways to make sure no one was around, she walked down to the showers. As she walked in, she took a look at herself in the mirror. She noticed a strangely colored bruise where she took a hit in the arm from last night. Maybe the shower would help.

She walked into a stall, and turned the water on as hot as she could stand. She just stood there, letting the water run through her hair and over her body. She replayed the events of last night in her head, blushing intensely. As her train of thought made it to the end of the trip, she remembered saying something to Jaune right before she fell asleep.

_I love you, Jaune Arc._

It took her a few moments to think back. What was it that prompted her to begin thinking that? Months ago, when they first met, she thought of him as awkward. Maybe a little goofy. Perhaps that was the first indication. His quirky confidence was something that she found a little attractive. If only as friends, at first. After that day in the Emerald Forest, she started to see something a little more. When she used her aura to unlock his, she felt a strange connection between them. She attributed it to feeling the power of his extremely strong aura.

After he admitted to her some weeks later that he had faked his transcripts, and lied his way into Beacon, she was furious. She didn't really know why. Maybe it was the fact that her team leader was not the one that she thought he was. Perhaps it was because there was a possibility that he would have to leave. Either way, she didn't really talk to him. Which was fine, as he started to hang out with that no-good Cardin. She felt a little betrayed by that also.

After seeing what he had done in Forever Fall, she came back to him. Something about him defending Cardin, and the way that even the little bit his fighting improved appealed to her character. So she went back to him. The late night training sessions were a big improvement for him. It was extremely noticeable. He was a fast learner, and soon those sessions moved from learning, to just regular practice. As such, they spent more time just talking.

She would catch herself looking at Jaune, trying to get closer to him. She would notice him looking back at her, and would quickly look away, so as not to give away the fact that she was a little embarrassed to be looking at him.

_Yes, I suppose that I do love him. But I would never admit that to him. I would barely admit it to myself. But the real question now, is what did _he _say? Did he say that he loved me also? Did he say anything at all? I can't remember._

She didn't realize how long she had just been standing there, until she heard someone else walk in to the showers.

After turning off the now cold water, she dried off and wrapped up her hair above her head. After getting dressed, she made her way down the hall. She approached the door to her team's room, and stopped. No, she didn't want to run the risk of approaching Jaune. She turned around and instead knocked on the door to Team RWBY.

_Maybe they can help me with this._

She was greeted by Weiss, still in the process of brushing her hair.

"Oh, Pyrrha. What brings you here so early?"

"I have a few things I'd like to discuss. Could I come in?"

"Sure, pull up a chair. Let's talk."

Pyrrha entered the room, and fretted about before finding a spot to sit on Blake's bed, if the pile of books was any indication.

"Where's everyone else?" She asked.

"Oh, they decided to go to the dining hall. I wasn't very hungry, so I stayed behind. Hey, would you like a hairbrush?"

"Yes, that would be nice. Please."

Weiss walked over to the dresser and grabbed a silver hairbrush from the top of it.

"Here," she said handing it to Pyrrha. "This one should work."

"Thanks, Weiss." Replied Pyrrha taking the brush in hand. She unwrapped her hair, and dried it off some more. She began running the brush through her hair, and started to think about what was Jaune's response.

_How could he not say that he loved me?_

"Hey Pyrrha, are you okay?" Weiss' voice cut through her thoughts. "You've been brushing the same handful of hair for the last five minutes."

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just distracted, I guess."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I think it would be best if all of you were here."

"Okay." Weiss just left it at that, putting the finishing touches on her own hair, and placing the tiny, beautiful, tiara into her hair that she wore.

"Hey Weiss?"

"Yes?" Weiss turned to her.

"If you don't mind me asking, where did you get such a beautiful tiara?"

"It was a gift." Replied Weiss sternly, as she turned away. Pyrrha decided that the conversation was already over.

"Well, no one else is here, so I guess it's okay to talk about it." Continued Weiss. She turned to Pyrrha. "Just don't tell anyone else. I just don't want them to know, all right?"

"Sure thing."

"Well," Began Weiss. "As I said before, it was a gift. From my father. On my tenth birthday, in the middle of winter, my father came home later than usual from work. I had been sitting in the window, looking out for him. The only thing that I could think about was my father coming home and telling me 'Happy birthday, princess.' I had fallen asleep, but my mother woke me, and there was my dad standing there, his hands behind his back. I jumped up and ran straight towards him. 'Where's grandpa?' I remember asking him. 'He won't be coming tonight, sweetheart. The cold is too much for him tonight. Here, I have something very special for you.' He then brought his hands around, showing me the tiara. It was large for me at the time, but I didn't care. It wasn't until later that I learned what really happened. My grandfather had actually passed away that day. That was the reason my father came home late that night. The tiara actually belonged to my grandmother. My grandfather had given it to my father, to be given to me for my birthday. It's just that he was never able to make it out of the office."

"Wow, Weiss, I didn't know. I hope I didn't offend you by asking?"

"No, no, it's alright." Said Weiss as she rubbed a tear out of her eye. "It's not a story that I really tell people. I never thought anyone would have cared enough to ask. You're the first person that asked."

Just then, Ruby, Blake, and Yang walked in, laughing about some joke that was unheard by either Pyrrha or Weiss.

"Oh, Pyrrha," Said Blake upon entering. "What a surprise."

"Hey Pyrrha. What's going on?" Asked Yang.

"Oh, nothing. I just had something to discuss with you guys."

"Sure thing." Replied Ruby. "What is it?"

"Well," began Pyrrha. She started to blush, enough that she could feel the heat coming off of her face. "Last night, I had come back with Jaune. Alone." She didn't want to continue on.

"And. What was so different?" Asked Ruby.

"Well, for some reason, I felt like last night, that there was something different about him. As soon as we got back to the room, I just lost it."

"What do you mean?" Asked Ruby. "Did you guys get into a fight?" The other three girls just started sharing quick glances between them.

"No, it definitely wasn't that. In fact, you could say that it was the total opposite. We became, extremely…close."

Ruby just looked at Pyrrha, and then glanced at the other girls. She started blushing when she realized what exactly what was being said.

"Oh, I get it."

"Well, we were wondering when it would happen." Stated Yang.

Now Pyrrha was confused.

"You mean, you knew?"

"Of course." Responded Weiss. "We all knew."

"It was just a matter of time." Continued Blake. "That's why we don't understand what the big deal is."

"Wait, so you're telling me you saw this coming?" Pyrrha was actually starting to feel better about this, now that she knew that. "Is that really true? Was it that obvious?"

"Actually, yeah." Said Weiss. "Personally, I don't know what anyone could see in him, but to each their own."

"So, you really believe that it was inevitable? That we would, you know, 'hook up?'" Pyrrha looked at her friends, not really believing just how understanding that they were being.

"Pyrrha, I don't really know a lot about this sort of thing," Began Ruby. "But I've read enough books and stories to know that it's just like out of a fairy tale. I hope that some day, the same thing happens to me."

Pyrrha could only smile at Ruby's age and innocence.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Said Pyrrha. "But, how come I couldn't control myself? I mean, the whole time I felt embarrassed, ashamed. And even afraid. I mean, what would compel me to sleep with my team leader? That's just so unlike me."

"You know, Pyrrha?" Said Yang, sitting down next to her and putting a friendly arm around her shoulder. "Sometimes these things just happen. Not everyone knows why or how, but just going with your feelings can be the best thing that happens."

Pyrrha thought about this for a second. Yes, it made sense. She certainly did act on her actions. Purely on impulse. Maybe seeing Jaune lying there in her arms last night was the final push she needed.

"You know what guys, I think you're right." She was feeling tons better, and was now smiling as large as she could. "There's just one more thing I need to know."

"Go ahead. What is it?" Asked Blake.

"This is a question that you guys wouldn't be able to answer."

"Well, who could?" Asked Weiss.

Pyrrha just stood up and walked to the door. Crossing the hall and entering into her team's room, she found Jaune still lying in the bed. As she opened the door, he opened his eyes. His deep, dark, blue eyes that Pyrrha found very attractive. She almost wanted to just lock the door and do it all over again.

"Pyrrha, I, just wanted to say—"

"Don't say anything. I just have one question."

"Uh, sure, what is it?"

"You remember what I said to you last night, when we had, um, finished?" She started blushing immensely. From embarrassment or fear, she didn't know.

"Uh, yeah."

She moved closer to him, sitting down next to him on the bed.

"What's your response?"

He sat up, and looked directly at Pyrrha.

"I believe I said 'I love you too, Pyrrha Nikos, and I won't ever forget that."

Pyrrha was extremely relieved, she sighed and leaned in and kissed Jaune. A long, passionate kiss. One that although initiated by her, took her breath away.

Breaking the embrace, she just looked at him, and said "Thank you, Jaune." She started kissing him again, this time not letting go.

The girls of Team RWBY, looking from across the hall, just started giggling.

"Well, that's a great way to start the day." Said Yang.

"Come on guys, let's go." Said Blake. "The Vytal Festival starts today, and I'm sure that there's a lot to do before the ball tonight." The four went on their way to find some fun.

The two lovers left behind just stayed that way, holding each other in a deep embrace.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:**__ I know a lot of you are looking forward to the tournament. Don't fret, it's coming soon. Truthfully, I'm pretty surprised at how much the action scene is anticipated. The Chapter 4 fight scene is the most visited chapter in the book. Like I said, it's coming. I just have a few more plot points to fill in. So hang on, 'cause I know you won't be disappointed._

_**Just like before, please leave a review. All reviews, good and bad, are greatly appreciated.**_

**Weiss**

_Today is going to be so great!_

Everyone was excited, but Weiss didn't think anyone could be more excited than she was. It was officially the first day of the Vytal Festival, and that meant that the students from the other academies were coming to beacon that night for a ball.

And not just any ball. The annual Vytal Ball hosted by Beacon Academy was one of the most pompous events ever. High-class dining, entertainment, and people, were all coming to the school to celebrate the long-lasting peace that Remnant had felt, because of academies like Beacon and those that the visitors were coming from.

After having the little talk with Pyrrha and the others, all four of them made their way to the main ballroom, where Glynda Goodwitch was giving an introductory speech to all of the students about the festival.

"Well, I can't exactly say that I was surprised," Began Yang. "But I almost felt like there was something strange about Pyrrha actually making a move on Jaune."

"I couldn't help but notice it either." Replied Blake.

"I don't know about you guys," Started Ruby. "But I was actually a little concerned about that bruise that she had on her arm. It didn't seem quite right."

"What do you mean?" Asked Yang.

"I don't know, it just seemed like something else happened."

"I noticed it too." Said Weiss. "When she came to the room, I saw it. It seems too black."

"Huh," said Yang. "I didn't notice it. Maybe she just got hit really hard there."

"Or maybe it was Jaune?" Asked Blake with a grin on her face.

"Aww, Blake, don't talk like that!" Ruby exclaimed looking at her with a slightly disgusted look on her face. "I don't want to think about it."

"Actually, neither do I." Continued Weiss. "I would rather just go the speech, and find out what's going on tonight. It's the Vytal Ball tonight, and I want to know just who and what's going to be there."

"Weiss, I didn't think you would be that into going to parties." Said Yang.

"It's not just a party, knucklehead. It's one of the finest events in all of Vale. Everyone who's anyone is going to be there. Dressed in their best attire, all the finest clothing, jewelry. And the food. Always the best part of these types of events."

Weiss was giddy with excitement. How long had it been since she had been to an event like this? Years, for sure. Now she was able to finally get back into enjoying high society.

"And I hope you all have some proper clothes to wear tonight. Your regular attire just won't cut it." Said Weiss, looking at her comrades and the ridiculous outfits that they seemed to wear, well, all the time.

"Don't worry, Weiss." Said Blake, intervening before Yang or Ruby could start an argument. "I'll take them out to find something. I need to get some things, also."

"Thank you, Blake." She continued on her way to the ballroom.

Weiss felt that she and Blake had mostly gotten over their differences. She just wished that Blake knew how Weiss really felt. _It's not Faunus as a whole that I don't like. It's the White Fang. How could I have known that Blake was one of them at some point? I didn't want it to get as bad as it did, but what's done is done, and now we just have to move on._

As the four were approaching the ballroom, they found Ren and Nora standing at the door waiting for the rest of their team.

"Hey guys!" Called out Nora. "Have you seen Jaune and Pyrrha this morning?"

"Actually, yes." Replied Ruby. "They're a little, busy, at the moment."

"Well, probably not as busy as they were last night."

"You knew also?" Asked Blake.

"Of course." Replied Ren. "It wasn't difficult to see what was going on between the two of them. When me and Nora got done eating last night, we decided to leave them alone when we almost walked into the room."

"Probably a good idea." Said Yang. "I know I wouldn't have wanted to be there."

"We heard Professor Ozpin talking to you guys last night." Continued Nora. "What was he saying?"

"Well," Started Weiss, pretty smug. "He selected us to fight in a special tournament this week, against the best that the other academies can bring out."

"It's a special, secondary tournament." Explained Ruby. "All of the other schools select one team to represent them as the best of the best. I don't know all exactly what that means, but the Professor seemed pretty adamant about us being the ones he chose."

"That's great, guys." Said Ren. "So does that mean you don't have to fight in the regular tournament with the rest of us?"

"Well, we don't have to, but I'm going to for sure." Said Yang.

"Yes, I think we all will be." Said Ruby. "I don't see why not."

"That's good to hear." Said Nora. "Hey, I think that's Glynda up on stage. She must be about to start."

"Good morning, students of Beacon." She started. "As you all know, today is the beginning of the Vytal Festival. I'm sure you all are very excited to be meeting other students from around the world. Don't worry, because tonight, that is exactly what you will be doing. The Vytal Ball is one of the most anticipated events in all of Vale. I can tell you for sure that the Mayor of the City of Vale will be attending as he does every year. Others such as the newly appointed Chief of Police will be there, along with some other highly noted citizens of Vale, including the Minister of Vale, who is expected to be here tonight, and throughout the week."

Weiss almost started jumping up and down at the excitement she was feeling.

_The Minister, oh wow. Tonight is going to be an excellent night!_

"Along with our representatives of Vale," Continued Glynda. "Noted politicians from the other three kingdoms will be arriving today, along with the headmasters and headmistress of the other schools. With them will come a multitude of students. I expect you all to be on your best behavior, and show to them all that Beacon is a fine and respectable school. Now, you are all encouraged to go to town and try to find some nice clothing, and possibly some other students with the same idea. Dismissed."

The ballroom instantly filled with the buzz of students discussing their plans for the day. Some things that Weiss heard included everything from finding matching outfits, to finding ways to not even come to the ball. _How could anyone not want to come to the ball? It's going to be so great!_

"Well, it certainly sounds nice." Commented Ruby. "I just don't know how I feel about having to go get some different clothes."

"Oh, it won't be that bad." Said Yang, patting her little sister on the head. "I have to get some fancy clothes too. And besides, it's only for tonight."

"I have pretty much everything that I need. Blake, I'm trusting you to make the right call when it comes to them picking out the right dress. And I mean dress." She said, looking at Ruby.

"Now, when you say dress…" Started Ruby.

"I mean below the knees."

"Don't worry, Weiss. I know how to dress well." Said Blake, with a little sigh.

"I have total faith in you." Replied Weiss. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some preparing to do of my own. I would like to see you guys back here in your new-found styles at six o'clock. That way we have an hour to do any final adjustments, just to be sure."

"You're taking this pretty seriously, Weiss." Said Ruby.

"Yeah, I didn't think fashion was that big of a deal for you." Continued Yang.

"Well, when it comes to events like these, it's up to me make sure you guys know what you're doing."

"What makes you the expert?" Asked Ruby, getting a little agitated.

"Ruby, she's Weiss Schnee. Don't you think a name like that would be pretty common among the upper class?" Said Blake.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I kinda forgot."

"Now, off you guys go. Have fun shopping." Weiss turned and began making her way towards the room

On the way, she was stopped by a large man with a large mustache.

"Ah, Ms. Schnee. Just who I wanted to speak with."

"Professor Port. How are you doing today?"

"Very well, child. My, don't you seem awfully elated. What is it that makes you so happy?"

"Well Sir, it's the festival mostly. But tonight is going to be especially great. To have so many big names here at once will sure make for an exciting evening."

"Well, between you and me, Ms. Schnee, I always thought that such things were drab, dull, events. But I suppose that you had grown up in this kind of environment, so you are probably used to it." Professor Port pulled out a small package from behind his back, with an envelope attached to the top. "Here, this came for you today. From the looks of it, it came from home."

"Thank you professor. I didn't think they would be sending me anything any time soon."

"And one more thing. I heard about Professor Ozpin's decision to select Team RWBY as Beacon's champions. Congratulations. A great honor. I'm assuming this means that things are going much better between you two?" Asked the professor, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes, things are much better now. I've come to realize that Ruby is a lot better leader than I originally gave her credit for."

"Well, that's good to hear. Have fun at the ball, Ms. Schnee!"

"You too, professor."

Weiss walked into the room, looking at the address labelled on the envelope. It definitely was from home. _What would my parents have sent me? I didn't think that I'd really be hearing anything from them to begin with._

She opened the envelope, revealing very white, crisp paper, with silver snowflake embossing around the edges. She began reading.

_My dearest daughter Weiss…_obviously written by her mom…_I know how much you had been looking forward to the Vytal Festival. I hope this will go well with the rest of your outfit. Things are doing fine here at home. Your father has become much more busy recently. All of the problems with those Faunus troublemakers have taken a toll on your father's work. I heard about that attack on the Dust shipment that ended up in Vale. Your father mentioned that you had been seen there. I hope you're not getting into trouble. We both love you very much, and are excited to be seeing you again. Make us proud!_

Weiss was genuinely surprised. She didn't think that there would be any sort of communication between her and her parents, as they didn't really talk on a regular basis, especially in recent years. Turning to the package, and noticing the "Fragile" stamp on the top, she couldn't imagine what it would be.

Opening the box, she was just amazed at what lay inside. It was a necklace, with the most beautiful, ice-blue gem inlaid in an ornate silver pendant. After taking a few moments just staring at it, she realized that she needed to start getting ready for the ball.

She went to her closet, and found a dress that she brought just for the occasion. It had the same color scheme as her regular outfit, but instead of a vest with skirt, it was a full-length dress with blue highlights on the sleeves and bottom. It also had the Weiss snowflake crest embroidered in silver thread on the back. After donning her garb, placing her tiara on her head, and the new necklace around her neck, she made her way to the ballroom.

As she was arriving, she saw Jaune and Pyrrha for only the second time today. She was wearing an elaborate crimson and gold gown. Jaune was just wearing his school uniform, however him standing there holding hands with Pyrrha seemed to make it seem not so plain.

"Weiss, Weiss, look! Look at what we found! These dresses are amazing!" She could hear Ruby's voice coming from behind her. Turning around, she could hardly believe what she was seeing. They actually looked presentable.

Yang had found a gold colored dress that flowed down to the ground, with the front cut out exposing her legs. She was wearing a burnt-orange jacket that covered her arms and shoulders. She had also found some gold bracelets to complete the look, replacing her gauntlets.

Blake found a long, flowing, black dress, completely closed, with black gems inlaid into the edges around her neckline. She found some black gloves that went all the way up to her elbows. Instead of her normal, large black bow, she was wearing a smaller one, slightly offset allowing her cat ears to be exposed. Weiss that was definitely a big step, since as far as she knew she hadn't told anyone else that she was a Faunus.

Ruby's dress was almost the same as her regular attire, except with red roses embroidered into the hemming. It didn't exactly go below the knees, but it was close enough. The front was more open, and there were no sleeves. She actually had gotten rid of the cape, in favor of a red scarf that flowed down almost as much as the cape. At first glance it seemed out of place, but overall the attire worked.

"Wow, you guys look fantastic! Good job, Blake. I knew I could count on you." Weiss approached them, beaming.

"Actually, they picked out the dresses themselves. We found this dress shop downtown that had them on display, and they instantly wanted to try them on. As soon as they were fitted, they bought them. Ruby, though, specially requested hers be shortened, of course."

"Well, either way, it all looks great. Come on. We have a party to attend to!"

All three girls locked arms, and walked into the ballroom, expecting to be the life of the party.


	10. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry for not updating on the regular daily schedule. A lot of things like school kept getting in the way. It's hard to become an engineer. Anyway, I know a lot of you are waiting for the tournament. Don't worry, it's coming. I have just a few more things to get out of the way. Trust me, the wait will be worth it. The tournament will be right after this chapter. _

**Ruby**

Ruby was actually really impressed. Weiss was right. The party was actually really fun. Ruby thought that it would be a pretty dull affair, especially since she wasn't at all used to being in this environment like Weiss was. But it turns out stories about her and her team had spread to the other kingdoms. Especially the part about killing the Nevermore. JNPR wasn't left out either. No one forgot about how they were the ones to take out a Deathstalker.

They had walked into the room expecting to be bored, but it turns out they were the life of the party, especially among the other students. All night, others had been approaching her and the rest of her team to talk about the events of the first week. And not just that. A few had apparently taken an interest in their encounter with the White Fang. Ruby tried to avoid those conversations, especially since she didn't think that would be appropriate for this type of setting.

She was really surprised, and proud, of Blake for deciding to remove her bow for this event. She had approached her about it earlier.

"What's up, Blake?" She had asked.

"About what?"

"I mean, why aren't you wearing the bow? Don't you want to keep it a secret that you're a Faunus?"

"Actually, I figured that tonight would be one of the best nights to let everyone know. I don't think it will be that much trouble, considering that there are a lot of other Faunus fighters from other schools. And Cardin and his goons have been pretty much taken care of."

"Well, I'm proud of you Blake. That's really brave of you." Ruby drew the black-haired girl into a friendly embrace before they all made their way to the ballroom.

And it was obvious that Blake had made the right decision. She had drawn quite a crowd around her, especially from students from Beacon. Those that didn't know that she was a Faunus were the most interested in her. Speaking of Cardin, he appeared to be nowhere in sight. Maybe he had decided to skip out on the ball. Even Sun was there. He stayed close to Blake also. Ruby wouldn't be surprised if their friendship soon turned into something else.

Yang approached her, with two familiar faces following close behind.

"Ruby, you remember Xavier and Amy, don't you? We met them at the park the other day."

"Oh, yeah, I remember you guys. How do you guys like it here at Beacon?"

"It's pretty great." Responded Xavier. "I really like the layout of the place. Right on the cliff. Provides a really great view of the ocean."

"Yeah, it's really great. My favorite part is the Emerald Forest. It's really beautiful there." Continued Amy.

"Yeah, it's pretty great here." Replied Yang. "Personally, my favorite part is the building itself. It's so large and beautiful. And old too."

"Hey Yang?" Asked Ruby, turning to her older sister. "Have you seen Weiss? I have a few questions for her."

"Yeah, I think I saw her up near the front. Probably trying to get out having to hang out the rest of us 'lower-class folk.'"

"Yang, you know she doesn't really think about us that way." Said Ruby, looking at her sister with a 'don't try and make it worse' sort of look.

Ruby did indeed see her up at the front of the ballroom, talking to some high-class looking people which Ruby could only assume were some of the well-noted people that Glynda had mentioned the previous day.

"He Weiss, do you mind introducing me?"

"Not a problem, Ruby." She swept her hand across the panel of individuals in front of her. "These are the ones responsible for this event. Here is Mr. Walter, the main funder of this event. Here is Mr. Lorke, who arranged for the travel of the other students. And this is Mrs. Valoran. Her husband was one of the main proprietors of this event in years past."

An older, kindly woman sitting near the end of the table spoke up. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss…"

"Rose. Ruby Rose." Replied Ruby, with her best attempt at a curtsy that she could stomach. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. And thank you for providing us with this great opportunity."

"It's nothing much, my dear." Said a well dressed, grey haired man with glasses. The one that Weiss pointed out to be Mr. Lorke. "It's good to see that our future protectors can have a good time, even with such a daunting task ahead of them."

"Besides, this gives us a good distraction from the boredom that comes with having too much money to do anything." Said the final man, Mr. Walter. He was slightly less formally dressed, with an open jacket suit and nice pants. He was much younger than Mr. Lorke, with dark brown hair swept back neatly.

"Well, I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"Oh, you would be surprised." Responded Mr. Walter. "After making our fortunes, most of us just sit on our money, waiting for something to do."

"And we all thank you for choosing to do this." Said Weiss. "We wouldn't be able to do this at all without your help."

Just then Professor Ozpin arrived.

"Ah, Ruby, Weiss. I see that you two have met our finest guests at the ball. Anything particular that you three would like to discuss with two of our greatest students?"

"Oh, nothing too important Ozpin." Replied Mrs. Valoran. "We were just about to ask them about how they like it here at such a fine academy. Especially about the stories that we have heard about them."

"In particular the rumors involving them and the White Fang." Said Mr. Lorke with an inquisitorial look towards the professor.

"I assure you, all rumors you may have heard are purely made up, with no basis whatsoever." He turned to Ruby and Weiss. "Would you two mind leaving us. I just received word that the Prime Minister won't be making it tonight, and I would like to discuss the matter alone with our…investors."

"No problem, sir." Replied Ruby. "Come on Weiss, let's go talk to Yang and Blake. We haven't really seen you all night. Other people are asking about you."

"They're asking about me, what do you mean?"

The two left Professor Ozpin and the three others to a very heated discussion, one that soon followed with all four of them leaving the room entirely.

They soon caught up with Blake and Yang, sitting by themselves and talking.

"Hey you guys." Started Weiss. "Why aren't you two enjoying yourselves?"

"We're just discussing Pyrrha." Said Blake. "We think she's been acting a little weird all night."

"What do you mean?" Said Ruby. She glanced over to where Yang and Blake were looking.

She saw Pyrrha and Jaune there together. _Nothing really too out of the ordinary there, I suppose. But she does seem to be acting just a little weird. Like she's been distracted._

"I mean just her mannerisms seem a little off." Said Yang. "I mean, look at her. She isn't as polite as she normally is. In fact, at one point it looked like she was going to fight some kid that tried talking to her."

Just then, someone else came up to her to talk to her. She immediately got a very annoyed look on her face. She tried turning the guy away, but he wouldn't get the hint. Suddenly, without any sort of provocation, the surrounding area turned to face her, as her voice quickly became much louder.

"And just what do you think you're doing? Do you think that trying to annoy people is a good hobby? I mean, is it that strange that you've met a warrior like me? We are at a combat school, you know."

The four girls approached Pyrrha, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Whoa, Pyrrha, you need to calm down. I'm sure there was no harm meant." Weiss tried to calm her down first, as she seemed to be closest to her than the other three.

"Oh, do I now? Do you know what this jerk was insinuating? He finds it hard to believe that a warrior like me could be female!"

"No, no, that's not at all true!" Said the frightened boy. "I was just wondering if it was any more difficult to be so well known as a female warrior of her strength. People from all over the globe have heard of her."

"That seems like a fairly harmless question." Said Yang. "Are you sure you didn't take this whole thing the wrong way?"

Ruby noticed something strange about Pyrrha.

"Blake, that bruise on her arm. It really is black. And it's larger. What do you think it is?"

Blake turned to look also. "You're right. That doesn't seem like a normal bruise."

"No, that's not at all what he meant. I know what he meant. He's just scared of fighting someone like me in the tournament! He doesn't want to admit that he's weaker than a _girl._"

"Pyrrha," Interrupted Blake. "You need to calm down. Something's not right, and we're here to help you."

Now Pyrrha began to get really mad. Her aura began to flash around her body. Suddenly from out of nowhere, a small piece of silverware came flying off the buffet and slammed into her forehead.

That seemed to snap her out of it.

"What, what's going on? What happened?" She glanced around at the crowd around her.

"Pyrrha," Began Ruby. "You weren't acting yourself. Come on, let's try and figure this out." She grabbed her by the arm.

"Ow!" Yelled out Pyrrha. "Don't touch me there. The bruise seems to have gotten worse." Ruby started leading Pyrrha out the door, with the rest of her team and team JNPR following.

"That's what we want to figure out." Said Blake. "You had been acting strange all night. It seems that the bruise grew, along with your attitude."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just take a look at it." Said Weiss. "It's almost pure black. That doesn't look right at all."

Pyrrha glanced at it, and started to begin looking worried.

"What's going on guys? I don't know what to do."

"Well, that fork stuck to your forehead doesn't really answer anything." Said Blake.

"Huh?" Pyrrha reached up and plucked the fork from her face. It wasn't stuck in her head, it was stuck _on_ her head. "How did that happen?"

"Pyrrha, your aura was flashing pretty intensely there, for a while." Said Jaune. "Have you ever been able to really move things like that before?"

"No, nothing like that. Usually just a little bit. But never have I been able to just move things around. Almost like a magnet."

All eight just sat there, trying to make sense of what happened.

"You know," Said Ren. "It's pretty similar to that guy that we ran into. His semblance seemed to have magnetic properties. Maybe when he hit you, your auras clashed, and his had started to mess with yours."

"Yeah, and the bruise holds a small portion of his aura inside your body." Started Blake. "I had read before that some people would have been able to change theirs and other's auras. But only with enough training, and enough power, including the power of dust."

"And we did encounter him as he attempted to steal a large amount of dust." Said Nora.

"We should talk to Professor Lokhart about this." Said Weiss. "He might know a thing or two about this."

"And in the meantime," Said Ruby. "You should go to the infirmary. Maybe one of the nurses there will have a way to stop the spread of the bruising."

"That's a good idea. I think I'll go right away." Pyrrha stood up, a little shakily. Putting her hand to her head, she almost fell down again. Jaune caught her before she could lose her footing.

"I'll go with you. Nora, Ren, go back to the party. I don't want you two to be missing out because of a little headache."

"And you three go with them." Said Ruby to the rest of her team. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."

"Alright," Said Yang. "Well, hope it's not too serious. See ya!" The other five went off on their way.

"You know, this is more than a headache." Said Ruby. "This could be really serious. I'll go find Professor Ozpin and try to find out what we can do about this."

"No, don't do that." Said Pyrrha. "I'm sure it's nothing. Besides, do you think what Blake said is true? I mean, she reads a lot. What's to say she didn't just read that in one of her fiction novels."

"I guess it does seem pretty far-fetched." Said Ruby. "But a lot of what she says is also true. Maybe what she's saying is still true. It's just that it hasn't happened in a long time."

"Well, it may be true, but I don't want to assume that right away." Pyrrha stood up with the help of Jaune holding her up on his shoulders. "Right now, I just want to sleep."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Said Jaune. "I'll take you back to the dorm. Ruby, you go back to the ball with the rest of your team, and try to have fun, alright? I'll come see you first thing tomorrow about it."

"Alright, Jaune. If you think that's what's best right now, Pyrrha, I won't stop you." She put a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "I just want you to know that we're all here for you."

She watched the two head off to the dorms. As they rounded the corner, she could see that Pyrrha was struggling just to stay on her feet.

Turning around, Ruby headed back to the ballroom to enjoy the rest of the evening with her team.


	11. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry for not updating at all in the past week. It was spring break, and I was hoping to do at least one or two chapters. But of course not. Anyway, here is the most anticipated chapter yet: The beginning of the tournament! And don't forget to check out my other work-in-progress, "White like Roses." You asked for it, so here it is, a White Rose story. Hold on, because this chapter is going to be a long one._

_**And as always, please leave a review, as all reviews are greatly appreciated.**_

**Yang**

_Oh, my, god, that party was freaking awesome._

Close to eleven at night, it was noticed that Ozpin and most of the other faculty had left. Someone had decided that it was a good idea to bring their own music.

And someone else thought it was a good idea to bring some extra…refreshments.

There was dancing, music, games, and a whole lot of other things that Yang couldn't really remember.

When she got back last night, everyone else was already in bed asleep.

_At least Ruby had the sense to get out of there before it got too bad._

She sat up, and looked around. Everyone else was still asleep. It was just about to turn eight o'clock.

_Well, I'm up. Might as well get ready for the day._

She hopped down off of her bed above Blake, and made her way to the showers. When she returned, everyone was up and in a hurry to get dressed.

"What's going on guys?"

"Oh, Yang, there you are!" Said Ruby as she was clipping on her cloak. "We just got a message from Glynda. We have to get to the combat room, ASAP."

"Why? What for?"

"She didn't say," Replied Blake. "But she was very insistent that we be there."

Yang hurriedly got dressed and attempted her best to straighten out her long hair. Grabbing Ember Celica, she double checked that she had extra ammo. After attaching the weaponized gauntlets to her arms, the four of them made their way to the combat room.

As they approached, Yang noticed a pair of students also making their way down the hall. One with light hair and green eyes, and another with green hair and amber eyes.

"Xavier! Amy!" Called out Weiss. "What are you guys doing here?"

The pair stopped to let the other four catch up to them.

"We're not sure." Replied Xavier. "We were told by the Headmistress to be here at this time. She didn't say why."

"Well, I guess we'll find out." Said Yang. "Chances are we're both here for the same reason."

The six of them made their way into the room, and saw eight others already sitting in the room. By the looks of it, they were also two other teams of four. Finding seat near the middle of the classroom, they all sat down, confused as to what exactly they were doing there.

As soon as they were settled in, Glynda Goodwitch entered the room from a side door.

"Good morning, students." She walke to the front of the classroom. "I'm sure you are wondering just why I called you all down here. But first, I think some introductions would be necessary. I am Glynda Goodwitch, the Vice-Headmistress of Beacon Academy." She gestured to the four girls sitting in the middle of the room. "This is Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose. They are representing Beacon."

All eyes turned to look at the now very timid looking little girl in the red hood.

"Uh, hi, there."

Glynda continued. She gestured to the group of four on the left. "This is Team PRCL*, led by Patrick Corwin." A dark haired boy in bright green and blue waved to the rest of them. "They are here from Atlas." Glynda gestured to the other team on the right hand side of the room. "This is Team ZPHR**, led by Zak Welshin." A large, handsome boy with light blonde hair and black clothing looked up and waved to everyone else. "They come here from Vacuo." And lastly, she gestured to Xavier and Amy, sitting next to Yang. "And this is Team AX, led by Amy Verros. They come from Mistral***."

"Hello, everyone." Replied Amy.

"As you all know," Continued Glynda. "You have all been selected by your respective schools to participate in the secondary tournament. The Guardian's Challenge. I'm sure all of you are fairly confused as to what exactly that means. Well, let me put your confusion to rest. Starting today, you all will be participating in a week-long tournament, pitted against each other in different categories."

All four teams began looking back and forth at each other, already sizing each other up.

"Today, you will be participating in a gladiatorial style battle against Grimm. Enemies include anything from a few Boarbatusk, to maybe a full group of Ursi. They will be closed results, meaning that you won't be able to see each other fight. However, the rest of Beacon will be watching. So will other visitors from the other kingdoms, along with anyone else from the public that chooses. You have two hours to prepare. At the end of those two hours, be sure to be back here. If even one member of your team is not present, the entire team will be forced to forfeit their standing. Will team leaders, please follow me?"

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys in a bit." Ruby stood up, along with Amy, and made their way to the front of the room with the rest of the team leaders. They followed Glynda out the side door.

Yang turned to Xavier. "So, where's the rest of your team? It sounds like if they don't turn up, you guys will be in trouble."

"Actually, it's just the two of us. There were two late-comers into the school, so we were forced together as just a pair. I guess it's worked out, since we're here." He just shrugged his shoulders, trying to make it look like it wasn't anything special that they were just as strong as a four person team.

Just then, Ruby reappeared alongside Amy.

"What's up?" Asked Weiss.

"Well, Glynda has given us time to prepare for the combat in any way we need." Said Ruby. "I think I'm going to go down to the forge and do some last-minute cleaning on Crescent Rose. Oh, and I was also told that Sun is going to be temporarily assigned to our team." Blake visibly perked up from that. She had her big bow on, but their movement betrayed her excitement. "He won't be in this part of the tournament with us, but he will be fighting in the general combat tournament."

"That's strange." Said Blake. "He didn't mention that to me last night."

"Maybe he wanted to keep it a secret." Said Weiss.

"Or maybe a surprise." Said Yang. "There's no reason for him to keep secrets now, right?" Said Yang, looking directly at Weiss.

She just diverted her gaze, and made her way to the door. "If you'll excuse me, I have to refill the Dust in Myrtenaster."

"Come on Xavier," Said Amy. "We have some things that we need to do also."

"Well, Sis," Started Yang. "If you're going down to the forge, I'll come with you. I want to make my babies shine!" Said Yang, looking at her gauntlets.

The two made their way to the back of the school where the forge was located. They walked in silence, but as soon as they entered, Yang turned to her younger sister.

"How you holding up, sis?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Ruby. "I'm doing fine."

"Well, you know, this is a lot to do and take care of. Besides, I know this is a hard time for you."

"Yang, I'm fine. I just want to be there for you guys. Really, there's nothing wrong." She pulled out her scythe, and unfolding it, sat down with some oil and a cloth.

Yang pulled off Ember Celica and began doing the same thing.

"Are you sure? I mean, just next week it'll be ten years."

"I know what you mean, Yang. Don't try and get a reaction out of me." She stopped polishing her weapon and just stared at Yang. "Things are different this time around. I'm here at Beacon, with you and all of my new friends. This is what I've been dreaming about. I don't want my past to get in the way. I'll be fine."

"Well, okay. Just to let you know, we're all here for you. And if there's anything you need, just come to me."

The two sat there in silence, cleaning their weapons. It wasn't long before Yang heard other students out the door, probably making their way to wherever the tournament would be held.

"We should probably get going." Said Ruby standing up. "Our two hours are almost up."

Yang noticed that Ruby's eyes were just on the verge of crying. Now Yang felt bad about bringing up her mom. She came close to her and hugged her. The two just stood there for a few minutes, Yang holding her crying sister in her arms.

After Ruby had quieted down, the two made their way back to the combat room.

"You know, I was thinking," Said Yang. "I could go talk to Glynda or Ozpin, and see if we could arrange for some of your friends from Signal to come hang out with you for a day. I'm sure they would all be pretty excited to see you again."

"Yeah, that would be great." Said Ruby, quietly. "Yang, thanks."

"No problem, Sis."

The two entered the room to see all the others lined up and ready to go. Glynda was at the front.

"You two finally decided to show up." She started. "Good. I'm sure you wouldn't want to let the rest of the school down for being a little late." She turned to address everyone now. "Now, a combat arena has been set up near the edge of the Emerald Forest. We will make our way there now. Team PRCL, you will be participating first. Then, Team ZPHR, followed by AX. RWBY will be competing last. Let's go."

They all made their way to an airship that brought them to the stadium. It was a large, open, round building that was apparently made out of stone. The stadium was filled to capacity. The cheers and cries of the crowd could be heard all the way from Beacon. After landing, the four teams split up and made their way to their individual prep rooms. Inside, Yang and the others couldn't hear anything other than the muffled cheering of the crowd.

"Well guys," Started Weiss. "This is it. This is where we show them all what we're capable of."

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Replied Blake. "Besides, anything smaller than a Deathstalker will be easy to take on."

The four sat there for about half an hour, discussing anything from the tournament, to things like their favorite foods.

Glynda soon appeared at the door. "Team RWBY, are you ready? You're up next."

"Really?" Said Ruby, shaking a little nervously. "It hasn't been that long."

"The rounds are fairly short. At least, the other teams have been making short work of them."

The four made their way to the main entrance to the arena. The cheering was much louder here. They could hear from the other side of the door Professor Ozpin over a loudspeaker.

"_And now, representing Beacon Academy and all of Vale,"_ The cheering got especially loud at this. _"Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."_ The doors opened, and out stepped Ruby, looking pretty sheepish at the amount of attention that she was receiving. _"And her teammates, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna,_ _and Yang Xiao Long."_ The other three stepped out into the sunlight.

They walked out into a clearing at one end of a small, forested area. On the other side, a large rock outcropping could be seen above the trees.

"_Your opponents are on the field."_ Continued Professor Ozpin. _"Good luck, Team RWBY."_ Just then, a glass dome closed over the arena, blocking out almost all of the sound of the crowd. It was dead silent in the little miniature forest.

"Well, that's not creepy at all." Said Yang, unfolding her gauntlets, trying to prepare for anything.

The other three did the same. Ruby brought out her scythe, ready to go. Weiss pulled out her rapier, Myrtenaster, charging the Dust chambers that made up the hilt of the blade. Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud, deciding to keep it in the cleaver-like sheath, giving her a more sword-like weapon that would be best suited for combat in the forest.

"What do we do first, fearless leader?" Asked Weiss.

"The area is pretty small." Replied Ruby. "Chances are, we'll run into something pretty quickly. Split up, and call out when you find something."

"Right," replied all three at the same time. They all took off running into the forest, Yang heading straight down the middle.

She kept going until she made it to the clearing on the other side. Using the power given her by her gauntlets, she launched herself up to the top of the rock formation. Looking up, she could see the crowd surrounding the arena. There were thousands of people. All of them cheering her team on. Looking around her, she couldn't see anything except the top of the small forest that surrounded the clearing.

Yang decided to go on and try to find something on the other side of the arena. Dropping down to the ground, she soon realized that she didn't have far to go.

The instant her feet touched the ground, she noticed that her feet weren't touching ground. They were touching the back of a very large Beowolf.

Using her gauntlets, she launched herself off before the giant claws could come up and tear her to ribbons.

The giant creature let out an ear-splitting roar.

_If that doesn't get the others' attention, then I don't know what would._

And right on cue, all three of them appeared next to Yang, all in battle stances.

"Alright, let's go!" Said Ruby, launching herself towards the creature. Extending the blade of her scythe, she moved in to strike at the creature. However, it was tougher than any of them thought. While Ruby's speed allowed her to get in close, the blade just glanced off as soon as it made contact. This only angered the Beowolf, which immediately swatted her away as if she were just a bug.

Yang jumped in, and began throwing rocket propelled punches into the creature as fast as she could. While it did at least cause the beast to stagger, it seemed to do little else. As a giant paw swung in from seemingly out of nowhere, Yang was able to jump out of the way just in time to avoid it, giving Blake an opening to jump on top of the beast and start slicing away at its head.

The armor on top was too tough, and every strike seemed to only barely scratch it.

"What kind of Beowolf is this?" Asked Weiss. "We can't even scratch it."

Just at that moment, the Beowolf reared up and let out a high pitched howl. In moments, other wolves made their way to the clearing. The fight suddenly went from a four-versus-one, to a nine-versus-four, Beowolf advantage.

The four girls just gathered together in the center, facing out at the overwhelming odds.

"Blake, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Shouted Ruby.

"You bet!"

Yang turned to face her sister.

"Talk to us, Ruby. What are you thinking?"

"It's the same as when we attacked that guy at the dust shop. Since the big one can't hit us from a distance, just move fast and take out the smaller ones first."

"Right!" Yang prepared to lash out at the creatures surrounding them, all of them wanting to kill the four girls.

"GO!" Screamed Ruby.

Jumping out, Yang used her gauntlets to launch herself into one of the wolves. Using that momentum, she knocked it over and followed it with a very powerful rocket punch to the midsection. Then one in the jaw, twice again into the midsection, and a fourth into the side of the head. The Beowolf collapsed, no longer any sort of threat. From the corner of her eye, she could see two more running towards her. Jumping up with a rocket propelled blast from her gauntlets, she started firing rounds into the face of the one to her right. Blinded, the creature ran into its comrade, causing both of them to crash and roll away. Falling down on top of them, she began throwing punches furiously into the mass of flesh and fur that was under her feet. Not knowing which of her hits hit which creature, she kept going until she had no more ammunition. Cartwheeling off of them, she was safe for the moment. Glancing around, she saw that the other six Beowolves had been taken care of just as easily by the rest of her team.

Now the large Beowolf was surrounded by the four of them. Popping open the actions on each of her gauntlets, Yang emptied out the spent shells, and pulled out two more rolls. Loading them into the gauntlets, she stood ready to go again.

"Ha, look at it!" Yelled out Yang. "It looks scared!"

"Yang, turn around!" Yelled out Weiss.

Yang turned around just in time to avoid the very large and sharp teeth on the inside of a King Taijitu's mouth. The creature struck out, its chin knocking into Yang and throwing her back a few feet. Fortunately for her, this white head of the snake had other priorities. Apparently it was hungry. It clasped its fangs around the large Beowolf and began swallowing it whole. Cheated out of an easy meal, the black head made its appearance from behind the large rock in the center of the clearing. Seeing the only other living creatures in the area, it lunged out at Blake.

Blake jumped out the way, taking a few swings at it with her blade.

"Focus on the black head!" Shouted out Ruby. "Hit it with all you've got!"

Yang, Blake, and Ruby started shooting at it, while Weiss used her Dust to throw fire at it. Just about every hit met their mark, but it barely phased the large creature. It was too fast to allow them to keep hitting it in the face. Weaving back and forth, it kept getting closer until it impacted full force into Ruby, knocking her back, and out of the fight. When she hit the ground, she didn't seem to be moving.

"Blake, go help her!" Yelled out Weiss.

"That's, my, SISTER!" Shouted Yang. Activating the full power of her aura, her vision turned red and fire engulfed her. Using this, Yang fired herself at the King Taijitu, grabbing on to the crest over one of its eyes. She started punching full force into its eye, using the power of Ember Celica to burn through into its skull. Killing this head, she dropped to the ground, a little tired from the sudden exertion.

Noticing its other half now dead, the white head gave up on its meal, and turned to see Weiss and Yang standing there looking at it.

"Weiss, do you have any ideas?" Asked Yang. She wanted this fight to be over as soon as possible.

"I think I do. Let it strike at one of us, and I can pin it down with my ice."

The white head of the snake just bobbed back and forth, looking at each one individually. Soon it reared back, and lunged directly at Yang. Jumping up and on top of the head of the snake, she used her aura to pound her fist into its cranium, even cracking the armor it had on top. Using this opportunity to strike, Weiss used her dust to jump in and onto the snake. Stabbing down with all her force, she formed a blue glyph around the creatures head, enclosing it entirely in ice.

Jumping back, the two of them just watched as the large reptile started thrashing about, until it no longer struggled, asphyxiated from the ice.

Looking back and forth, they double checked to make sure nothing else was waiting to make a meal out of them.

Running over to her sister, Yang started to fear that she was hurt much more than it appeared.

"Ruby! Ruby, are you okay?"

"She's fine." Said Blake. "She was just out for a little while there. She's coming to, though."

Yang knelt down next to her younger sister in time to see her silver eyes opening up, a little unfocused, and looking pretty tired.

"Wha-, what happened?" Said Ruby, putting a hand to her head. "Did, did we get it?" She tried to sit up, but Weiss put a hand to her shoulder.

"Just lay back down, you look like you're a little concussed." Weiss said to her in a calm voice.

"I, I what?" Ruby started looking around, until she found Yang's face. "Oh, Yang. What happened? Did we do well?"

"Yes, Ruby, we did well." Yang leaned in and hugged her younger sister.

At that moment, the glass dome opened up, and the cheering of the crowd invaded their ears. Professor Ozpin could be heard over the loudspeaker.

"_Team RWBY, you have fought very well, representing Beacon and all of Vale to the greatest extent that you could. Now exit the arena, and meet your adoring audience at the front of the academy."_

*PRCL= Team Parcel (This one was just a random thought.) The team consists of Patrick, Reggie, Colin, and Luke.

**ZPHR= Team Zephyr. The Team consists of Zak, Parris, the only female Heather, and Ryan.

***I had mistakenly typed Astral instead of Mistral in an earlier chapter. That chapter has been updated to reflect the correction.

_**And as always, thanks for reading. Please leave a review. All forms of criticism are considered to be constructive.**_


	12. Chapter 11

**Blake**

Blake was genuinely very impressed at just how well they all fought. While she couldn't say how the others thought about it, she felt that this was one of their finest moments. They were quick, they were efficient, and they took on a King Taijitu with barely a problem.

Ruby took quite a hit though. She was slightly concussed, and had to go to the infirmary immediately.

On their way there, a huge crowd of people showed up to congratulate them on their win. It seemed that Team RWBY was a crowd favorite.

Blake watched Yang help Ruby to the infirmary. She was pretty worried about her younger sister. Blake thought about how much she wished that someone was there for her like Yang was for Ruby.

_But that's in the past. I have to forget about him. Things were different back then._

Blake and Weiss followed behind Yang and Ruby as they led the way to the infirmary. Someone called out to Blake from the crowd.

"Hey Blake, you did really good out there!" The voice was accompanied by the monkey-tailed, kind-faced, trouble-maker Sun.

"Thanks, Sun. I didn't know you were here watching." She turned to him now with a glare on her face. "I also didn't know that you were going to be attending Beacon. Let alone be placed on our team for the time being."

"Oh, you heard about that, huh?" Sun avoided her gaze, and was acting pretty uncomfortably. "I was hoping that you wouldn't find out, so that it could be a surprise when I told you myself."

"How long did you know that this was going to happen?"

"For about two days. I was going to tell you when the tournament ended."

Blake couldn't really stay mad at Sun. She didn't fully accept his answer, but she decided that she would deal with it later. For now, she just smiled and continued on her way.

"So," She continued. "How good was I out there, really?"

"You were amazing. I didn't know anyone could move as fast as you do. It was really incredible. And the way that you can handle both the sword and the gun-whip, thing, you have."

"It's called Gambol Shroud. I've been using this weapon for as long as I've been training." She didn't want to, nor did she need to, explain that she had been training since she was about thirteen, with the White Fang. He would understand.

"So, what happened to Ruby? Will she be fine?"

The five of them were just arriving at the infirmary. Blake looked ahead at her team leader, and saw that she seemed to be crying a little while she was talking to Yang. _I wonder if she really is okay?_

"Well, she took quite a hit out there. That snake hit her really hard. She was knocked unconscious for a little while out there. I don't know what's wrong with her now, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Maybe she got hurt more than I thought."

As they were walking into the infirmary, a pair of nurses approached, and took hold of Ruby, and brought her to a bed to lay down in.

"Now, I know it hurts, and I know you're tired, but you need to keep awake, alright?" Said one of them. He started looking into Ruby's eyes to determine if she was concussed too badly. "You need to focus, understand?"

Ruby just nodded her head. Blake could see that she was beginning to get a hold of herself, and was starting to notice her surroundings a little better.

Weiss and Yang came back to stand next to Blake and Sun.

"She doesn't seem like she's hurt too badly." Said Weiss. "Just a little rest, and she'll be fine." She turned to Yang. "What were you talking to her about? Why was she crying?"

"Not here. Let's talk about it somewhere else." She motioned for them to follow, and they moved off to a corner of the infirmary, out of range of Ruby's intense hearing.

"Remember that conversation that we had a few days ago, Weiss? Well, today is the day, and I had talked to her about it earlier. She seemed to be okay for a little while, but no matter what, I knew that she would be thinking about it."

"Thinking about what?" Asked Blake. "What's going on?"

"Today, ten years ago, is the day that Ruby's mom passed away."

Blake definitely didn't know that. It was obvious that Ruby and Yang weren't really related, but she had assumed that Ruby was adopted from the start.

"Well, that most certainly would distract me." Replied Sun.

"Yeah, and I think that's what happened. She wouldn't admit it, but she really misses her. I sort of do too. I had known Ruby and her mom since I was just a little girl. I think this year is the hardest that she's ever taken this. All I know is that we all need to be there for her, and I think I know something that might help. I need to go talk to Professor Ozpin. You guys stay here and keep her company. I'll be back in a little bit."

Yang headed off out the door, but not before going back to give her sister a hug.

Just as Yang was heading out, who else but Jaune suddenly appeared from around the corner behind them.

"Oh, it is you guys. I thought I heard you here. Come on, you have to see something."

"Well, what is it Jaune?" Asked Blake.

"It's Pyrrha. After last night, she seemed to get worse, really fast. Before we even made it back to the room, she ended up passing out. That black mark on her arm was larger, and it appeared to be even blacker."

Weiss gasped, and seemed to be genuinely worried. Blake knew that the two girls had become fairly close friends since the beginning of the year.

They all moved around the corner, and there was Pyrrha, sleeping. However, it was a very fretful sleep. The look on her face conveyed intense pain.

"Do they know what's wrong with her?" Asked Weiss as she sat down next to her on the bed.

The bruise, although now it was hard to think of it like that, had spread to the rest of her arm, and little tendrils of whatever it was had spread up her neck and onto the left side of her face.

Blake looked at Jaune as he spoke.

"They said that they have no idea what it is, however one of the doctors said that he may have heard of a few things that could cause this. He's been gone for quite a while now. I don't know where he is."

Blake could tell that seeing her like this was hurting him pretty badly. After how much their relationship had changed in the past week, she could only feel bad for him. She felt like she had somehow seen something like this before, however she couldn't place where exactly she recognized this.

Weiss stood up, and actually moved closer to Jaune, placing a hand on his shoulder.

_Wow. I guess when you get down to it, friendship only brings people closer._ She couldn't believe that Weiss was also getting pretty emotional about it.

The all just stood there for a while, when suddenly a small group of people showed up behind them all. There was Ren and Nora, Yang, Professors Ozpin and Lokhart, and a fairly worried looking doctor.

"Well, since we're all here, I guess that means that we don't have any calls to make." Began Professor Ozpin. He turned to the members of Team JNPR, and started with a quiet voice. "I don't want to alarm you all, but the kind doctor here and Professor Lokhart have brought to my attention that Miss Nikos has come under some sort of infection. Well, it's not really an infection per se."

"Then what is it, Professor?" Asked Ren.

Professor Lokhart spoke up here.

"While I didn't expect that I would be saying this, it seems that your teammate has come in contact with a very old, and very dangerous form of Dust-Casting. While the specifics are not clear at the moment, this type of Dust-Casting is considered to be outlawed because of its highly unstable nature. The purpose behind it is to inflict long-term damage to a person's aura. Given enough power and time, it could actually change the person's aura. To what and how, I don't know. But one thing I do know for sure, is that if done improperly, it _can _kill."

At this, Jaune looked up, and had a very worried look on his face.

"Is…is she going to die, Professor?"

Professor Lokhart leaned in close to look at Pyrrhas face. After looking intensely at the marks up and down her arm he stood up and looked at Jaune.

"No, it appears that she will be fine. At least, she won't die. By the looks of it, the spell may wear off completely. How long it will take, I can't say. And there is a possibility that there will be intense scarring."

Jaune let out a very audible sigh, and sat down on the bed next to her, stroking her hair. Professor Lokhart turned to the doctor.

"All we can do now is keep her as comfortable as we can, and wait until she wakes back up. She should be awake again within the next two days. If she doesn't, then come talk to me."

The doctor nodded, and headed off.

"Thank you, Professor." Said Ozpin to Professor Lokhart.

"No problem, Headmaster. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some tests to grade." He took off without another word. Not even a consolatory glance at Jaune or the others.

"Now," Said Professor Ozpin, turning to team RWBY. "We should let them be. Jaune, I'm sure you should head back. It appears that you need sleep just as much as anyone else would."

"Yeah, I'll stay here with her." Said Nora. "You look really tired Jaune."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He said, breaking down to the insistent looks he was receiving from everyone around him.

"Do you need anything, Jaune?" Asked Ren. "I can go get it for you."

"No, that's okay. Now that I know it will be okay, I just need to sleep." Jaune shuffled off out the door, looking like he was about to pass out right there.

Nora looked at Ren and mouthed the words _'Follow him.' _He got the hint and headed out after Jaune.

"Now, Yang. Let's go check on your sister." Said Professor Ozpin.

The five of them, Sun included, headed over to where she was laying down. The doctors had removed her cape and laid Crescent Rose down on the table next the bed.

"How is she doing, doctor?" Asked Ozpin.

"Well, she's slightly concussed, not so much that we need worry. All she needs right now is some sleep. She has a few bruised ribs. She'll be hurting for a while, but in a few days she'll back to normal."

"That's good to hear. Now, Miss Xiao Long. What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Well sir, today is ten years that Ruby's mother passed away. Around this time of year she gets pretty sad. I was thinking that one way to cheer her up would be to invite some of her friends to spend the day with her here at Beacon."

"Hmm. Ten years?" Professor Ozpin just stood there with a far off look in his face.

"Uh, Professor, how does that sound?" Yang asked him.

"Hm, yes, that sounds fine. I'll get in contact with the headmaster at Signal and arrange for them to come tomorrow."

"Wow! That would be great, Professor. Thanks a lot."

"No problem at all." He turned towards the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe that it would only be right to congratulate the other three teams on their performance. You all did very well today. I think this is going to be one of the most exciting tournaments ever seen at Beacon."

Blake watched him go, his cane making a very distinguishable clicking sound down the hallway.

"That was a little strange." Said Weiss. "Did you notice how he reacted?"

"Yeah," Replied Yang. "I wonder what that was all about."

"Well, whatever it was, I'm sure Ruby will be very happy to hear that her friends are coming to visit." Blake looked at the sleeping girl on the bed. She appeared to be just fine, and Blake wasn't worried at all that she would be awake in the next few hours or so.

"Come on Sun, I have a few questions for you." Said Blake, leading him out of the room. "I'll talk to you guys later, alright? I just have few things that need some explaining."

"Alright, but don't be too long. While I was looking for Professor Ozpin, Glynda told me that we need to be at the combat room again at the end of the day."

"Sure thing!" Blake called back, as she led Sun to an empty room down the hall.

She looked directly at him with the most menacing eyes that she could muster.

"Okaaay, it looks like you're not happy." Said Sun, getting a little squeamish under her gaze.

"You're right I'm not. It's fine that you wanted to surprise me by telling me that you were going to be a student at beacon, but why wouldn't you have just told me? I mean, it's been almost a week since you showed up, and then you practically disappear for two days? At the ball you barely said anything."

Sun put up his hands in exasperation. "Hey, those two days were the only days that I knew I would be coming to the school. I had a lot to do. Do you know how hard it was for me to convince Ozpin to let me transfer here? And on top of that, he's requiring that I fight in the tournament in order to make it official." Here Sun dropped his hands and looked at Blake with a questioning face. "Besides, I didn't think you would be so worried about me."

"I…I wasn't worried." Said Blake, almost feeling her face blush. "I just wanted to know why you didn't tell me that we were going to be on the same team."

_I guess I was a _little _worried. I mean, he's my only Faunus friend here._

"Hmm. It sounds like you were worried there for a second. Oh well, I guess." Sun shrugged his shoulders. "I thought that when friends cared about each other, they worried." Sun looked at her with his green eyes that seemed to challenge her.

"No, no, I mean, I just…I don't know. We are friends Sun, and I do worry about my friends, it's just that, well, I don't know."

Blake couldn't tell why she was so flustered all of a sudden.

_What is it about him that makes him different?_

"I understand." Said Sun. "Maybe we should head out. Your team is waiting for you." He offered her his arm.

_Okay, now I get it. Now I see what he's doing._

She just smiled, and placed her arm in his. They both walked out the door together.

"_Our_ team, Sun."

"Yes," he said. "Our team."

_**Please leave a review. All reviews are taken as constructive. And as always, thanks for reading.**_


	13. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note: **__I know I said that I would be updating much more regularly, but unfortunately my computer experienced a catastrophic failure. And when I say catastrophic, I mean that I lost almost all of my files. I had spent almost two days just trying to get my computer to work, and then a few more attempting to get the actual files back. I finally got it figured out, so here's the next chapter. And don't forget to check out my other work, "White like Roses."_

**Nora**

Nora had been sitting there, just looking at Pyrrha's sleeping face. It appeared that most of the pain in her face had dissipated. The black marks up and down her face were extremely concerning, and Nora could definitely see where Jaune's pain was coming from.

After meeting Jaune for the first time in Emerald Forest on the orientation mission, Nora thought that Jaune was a fairly quirky guy, and he was just a little socially awkward. He thought of himself as not the strongest of leaders, but Nora and the rest could tell that when it counted, he could get the job done. He made some really good calls that day, and the whole team noticed that as he started training with Pyrrha, he was only getting better.

Nora knew that they would all defend Jaune to the last minute, no matter what it was. He was their leader, and it was time for him to realize that he was a damn good one too.

And it didn't take long for everyone to realize how things were changing between him and Pyrrha.

Sitting there, Nora was beginning to feel worried that Pyrrha wouldn't be able to pull out of this.

At one point, a nurse came over and asked her if she needed anything.

"Just a glass of water, please." Responded Nora. Nora noticed the nurse bring in the water, but didn't pay any attention to it. Eventually she moved to the bed, and sat down next to Pyrrha.

She sat there for quite a while, when she noticed that Ren had appeared next to her.

"Here, you've been here for quite a while." He had a sandwich in one hand, and a bottle of Nora's favorite soda in the other. It was Strawberry Crème.

"What do you mean?" It was at this moment that Nora realized that the light filtering through the windows was beginning to turn a dark golden color. "What time is it?" She grabbed the sandwich and took a big bite out of it.

_I didn't realize how hungry I was. I guess it has been at least a few hours._

"It's almost four. You've been here at least five hours." Ren sat down on a chair that he found nearby.

The two just sat there in silence, Nora eating her sandwich. After tossing the last bite in her mouth and popping the top on the bottle of soda, Ren spoke up.

"You think she'll be alright?" He was now looking at Pyrrha.

"Yeah, I do. I mean, Professor Lokhart and the doctors both said that she'll recover in a few days, so I guess we have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, you're right."

At this, Nora stood up and walked over to Ren. Sitting down on his lap, she rested her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. Pyrrha and Jaune weren't the only ones that had advanced in their relationship lately.

After closing her eyes for a few moments, Nora opened her eyes and noticed that another half an hour had passed. Standing up and walking off, she stretched her arms above her head, and yawned.

_I need to stretch. That would be okay, right? I mean, I'm not leaving her._

Walking around the corner, she could hear some quiet talking coming from the place that Ruby had been sleeping. Stepping around the corner, she saw Ruby sitting up in her bed, and a nurse helping her get up.

"Ruby, you look like you're definitely doing better."

"Oh, Nora. Why are you here? You're not here just to see me, are you?" At this Ruby stood up and grabbed her cloak that was laying on the table next to her folded up.

Ruby had a very obvious bump on her forehead where the King Taijitu had most likely hit her when she was knocked out.

"No, actually it's Pyrrha. She didn't get better at all. In fact, she's basically in a coma. The doctor couldn't figure out what it was, but Professor Lokhart was able to determine that it's an old form of 'Dust-Casting,' whatever that is."

"Is she alright though? I mean, will she be alright?" Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from the desk, and attached it to the back of her belt.

"Yes, they both said that she should be fine in the next few days. Do you want to see her?"

"Yes, I suppose I should. Where is everyone else?"

"The others took off quite a few hours ago. In fact, I heard your sister mention that Glynda has requested you guys to head back to the combat room. She didn't say why, but I think that the meeting is supposed to happen fairly soon."

"Alright." The two girls walked around the corner to find Ren still asleep in the chair, and Pyrrha apparently having not moved at all. The noise of the two approaching had woken Ren. He stood up and greeted Ruby.

"Hey Ruby. How are you feeling?"

"The doctor said that I had been slightly concussed, and that I should be okay by tomorrow. I have a few bruised ribs, and they still hurt, but a little painkiller, and I'll be okay."

"That's good to hear."

Ruby went over to Pyrrha's bed and knelt down on her left side. Stroking her arm, Ruby just looked at Pyrrha's still face. The three of them just stayed there in silence, only just barely able to imagine what Pyrrha was thinking and feeling at the moment.

"I can only imagine how Jaune is taking this." Said Ruby, breaking the silence. "I mean, seeing her like this is pretty hard on me, too. It's pretty tough to see a friend like this. Even if it was Weiss who was like this, I wouldn't forgive myself for it."

Nora didn't know how to respond. She felt that she would react the same way if she was in the same situation.

Ruby looked like she just about to stand up, but then she furrowed her eyebrows at something.

"Nora, had you or anyone else noticed this before?" She was looking very intently at a particularly dark spot on the bruise on her arm.

"Noticed what?" She came in close and peered over Ruby's shoulder. "I can't see anything."

"It's really faint, but if you look closely, you can see it."

Ruby pointed at the spot, and Nora could actually see something. It appeared to be an elongated hexagon, surrounded by two prongs that wrapped around of four of the sides.

"What do you think that is?" Nora asked.

"I can't say. Maybe it has something to do with the 'Dust-Casting' that you mentioned."

"I don't know. But soon it will be time for you to head back to the rest of your team."

"Yeah, you're right." Replied Ruby. "I guess I should head out. They will all be pretty happy to see me ready to go so soon."

"I'll go with you. You need someone with you to make sure that you're really okay." She turned to Ren. "That will be fine, right? You'll be good watching over Pyrrha?"

"Yeah, it's okay, I don't mind."

"Thanks, Ren." Nora walked over to Ren, and standing up on her tip-toes, she gave Ren a quick kiss. Turning to Ruby, she placed her arm around her shoulder and led her out the door.

Ruby looked at Nora.

"When did that start happening?"

Knowing full well what she was talking about, Nora just smiled and continued walking.

"When did what start happening?" She asked coyly.

"You know. You and Ren. I mean, I knew that you guys were close, but I didn't think that close."

"Well, it certainly didn't happen like Jaune and Pyrrha, but it happened, let's just say that." Nora smiled and glanced at Ruby. She could see that Ruby was also smiling a little. Ruby quickly turned her face away.

"Hey, Ruby?" Nora really didn't want to head to this, but she felt like she needed someone to talk to about it. And Nora had a fairly similar background. "I overheard Yang talking to the rest of your team earlier. You don't have to talk about it if you want, but she mentioned that she was planning on having some friends of yours coming to Beacon to cheer you up? What's going on?"

Ruby sighed, and didn't say anything. She suddenly got a very sad look on her face, but it quickly turned around as she started speaking.

"Yang was always looking out for me. She had been ever since we had met for the first time.

I was only about two years old when we had met. Her parents had been really good friends with my parents. I don't remember my dad at all. He had died not long after I had been born. It was a medical problem. A very rare disease that didn't have a cure. As far as I know, he didn't suffer any at all, and it didn't impair him. It was at this time that my mom had met Yang's parents. After a while, they had been setting up play-dates for us. She immediately latched on to me. She was like a big sister since the beginning.

I had been spending a lot of time with Yang and her family more and more frequently. My mother was also a huntress. It's what inspired me to become one myself. When I was five, my uncle Qrow had come to me and Yang's parents and told us that my mother had been killed while out on a mission. She also attended Beacon when she was a girl. She graduated as one of the top students, and was hired by the Ministry of Vale to train other top fighters specifically to go out and fight the Grimm.

One day though, she didn't return. No one did.

Yang's parents adopted me, and me and her officially become sisters. Ever since then, we had been inseparable."

Nora had been touched by this out-coming from Ruby.

"Ruby, almost the same thing happened to me. My mom wasn't a huntress or anything like that. She was a shop owner. She owned an antiquities store. One day she was killed on her way to work in a car crash. I was only eight. My aunt and uncle brought me in, and that was that. I know it's nothing like what you went through, but I understand. I didn't have any siblings. I think you and Yang have something special, Ruby. Your sister is really great."

Ruby got a big smile on her face at that.

"Thanks Nora. You really are a great friend. You all are. It's great to know that I have so many friends here at the school."

Ruby hugged Nora with a friendly embrace.

At that point, they had finally made it to the combat room. It was apparent that Glynda had not yet arrived, but all the other teams had. Upon Ruby's entrance, her other teammates jumped up and ran to her.

"Ruby! How are you feeling?" Yang had embraced her younger sister in a very sisterly hug.

"I hope you're feeling well?" Asked Blake.

"You look like you're doing much better." Said Weiss.

"Yeah, you guys, I'm doing fine." At this Ruby hugged each one of her teammates. Turning to Nora, Ruby gave her one last hug. "Thanks, Nora, for talking with me. Come see me some time, will you?"

"Sure thing, Ruby. I'll talk to you guys later."

She walked out of the room, leaving her friends to whatever devices that Glynda Goodwitch had come up for them.

When she got back to the infirmary, she saw Ren sitting in the chair next to Pyrrha reading a book. Without saying a word, she came and sat down on his lap. Giving him a quick kiss, she laid her head down on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

"Hey Ren?"

"Yes Nora?"

"I'm glad that we have good friends here."

Nora didn't open her eyes, but she knew that Ren smiled.

"Me too, Nora. But I'm glad that you're my best friend."

Nora looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh, we're more than friends Ren." She kissed him again, and this time when she closed her eyes, she fell asleep until the morning.


	14. Chapter 13

**Ruby**

Ruby made her way to the center of the room, with her teammates behind her. They appeared to be pretty worried about her, and she had to keep telling them that she was okay.

"So, do any of you guys know why we are here?" She asked of her friends.

"Not a clue." Replied Yang. "I overheard some of the others talking like they were thinking that we would get some sort of score based on our fighting today."

"I think that might be the case. How can they determine if any one of our teams are better if they don't give us a score?"

"Well, whatever it is, I think we're about to find out." Said Weiss as she sat down. "Glynda and Professor Ozpin just walked in."

All eyes turned to them as the two entered the room. Professor Ozpin was wearing his usual dapper green and grey. A mug of coffee in one hand, and his cane in the other. Glynda was of course wearing her normal white and black outfit, complete with the ever pervasive look on her face that almost always appeared to be disapproving.

"Hello to all of you." Began Ozpin. "I am dreadfully sorry for not seeing to you all in the morning, but I had some very…important…business to attend to."

Ruby couldn't help but notice that the Professor seemed to be distracted by something. What it was, she could only guess. All the other girls noticed it as well.

"As I'm sure that you're all very curious as to know what your results are for the day, I'll just go ahead and start. Your scores were compiled using a multitude of factors, including individual skill, time in combat, and overall teamwork. Each person received individual scores that were factored together to come up with half of your final tally."

Ruby and the other four girls were looking back and forth between each other.

"Do you think that means we got docked points?" Asked Weiss of Yang, whispering.

"I don't know. It almost sounds that way, huh?" Replied Yang in just as quiet of a voice.

Professor Ozpin continued.

"Taking all of that into account, the final results are here."

At this, Glynda pulled out the scroll that she always had on her person, and using it as a controller, a vid-screen appeared from behind a hidden panel in the wall. On it showed pictures off all of the teams, lined up near the top. Along the left-hand side were the numbers one through four.

"In first place," Continued Glynda. "Is Team PRCL." Their image moved into the respective position on the list. "Second is team AX, third is Team RWBY, and finally in fourth place is Team ZPHR."

"That's outrageous!" Cried out a blond-haired boy, jumping up and waving his arms about. Ruby remembered him as being Zak, the leader of Team ZPHR. "How are we in last? She didn't even fight for a good deal of time! She was knocked out even!" Zak's disapproving finger was pointing directly at Ruby.

She felt small, and lonely. Being singled out like that was really nerve-wracking. It was true, Ruby felt like she didn't really contribute to the fight. She couldn't even remember some of it. But being pointed out like that made it seem like it was her fault somehow.

"And we've taken that into account." Responded Glynda with a fiery gaze. "However, acting out will not change the fact that during your encounter, you let your team go on their own, while you decided that the best thing to do would be to go by yourself. That most certainly is not the kind of teamwork that classifies as 'team.'"

Zak just glared back at Glynda, and Ruby thought that she was going to lash out and strike him down right then and there.

"Now, using these results," continued Professor Ozpin with a sip from his coffee. "We are about ready to continue with the next stage of the tournament. You have all proven that you're efficient at dealing with Grimm. However, the scores were very close, even with Ruby's incident."

Professor Ozpin looked at Ruby with a grin, and she got the sneaking suspicion that being knocked really didn't count against her.

"In order to determine which of you four are the best fighters, we've decided that the next round of the tournament is going to be an elimination round. You will be fighting against each other in a miniature tournament, team versus team. Starting with Teams PRCL and AX against one another, and Teams RWBY and ZPHR against each other. The fighting won't be until tomorrow evening, so I hope that you all get some sleep, and get ready."

Professor Ozpin and Glynda began moving toward the door. Ruby watched them leave, and she couldn't help but feel that Professor Ozpin was hiding something. As soon as they left, Zak turned to Ruby.

"You think you're so special, don't you? I know what's going on here. You're only in third place because the old man couldn't stand his 'special' team from being the losers. You were knocked out of the fight early on. You shouldn't even be getting a score."

Ruby just sat there quietly. However, the rest of her team would not at all stand this aggravation towards her. They all leapt up, getting between her and Zak. Yang had a look on her face like she was about to jump over the desk and punch him right then and there. The only thing holding her back was the sudden appearance of Amy right next to her, a hand on her shoulder. At that instant, the other two boys on Zak's team, Parris and Ryan also jumped up. Heather, on the other hand, stayed put.

"Zak, just calm down. You should realize that in all reality, however they scored us, was very accurate." She was calm, her voice betraying no anger whatsoever. Zak turned to her with a scowl on his face.

"And just what do you know about how we were scored? We don't have the access to that."

"Yes, that's true. However the Professor Goodwitch has a point. You shouldn't have left us alone like that. At least when RWBY split up, their leader gave that order. Because that's what leaders do: lead."

During the entire exchange, Heather was completely calm. She didn't even look up at Zak.

Ruby could only wonder what was going on in that girl's mind. Looking at her, Ruby wondered why she wasn't a team leader. However, the most notable thing about her, was the fiery red hair. It was the perfect contrast to her demeanor.

Zak stood there fuming at her. After a while, with a grunt and a nod of his head, he led the other two members of Team ZPHR out the door.

Looking around the room, Ruby noticed that at some point Team PRCL had left, leaving Teams RWBY, AX, and what was now left of ZPHR behind.

"Don't worry too much about him." Said Heather, standing up and walking over to Yang. "He's pretty hot-headed almost all of the time. It's nice to meet you. Yang, Right?" She extended her hand out for greeting. "And I know the rest of you as well. Blake, Weiss, and Ruby." She shook hands with the rest of the team.

"Yeah, well, in case he doesn't get it, I'll just pound my fist into his head. Let's see how hot it gets when he can't hear."

"Thank you, is what my teammate is trying to say." Intervened Weiss. "It's Heather, right? I think I overheard one of your teammates talking to you earlier."

"Yes, that's right. Heather Sage."

"Well, it's definitely nice to meet you." Continued Blake. "Why did you intervene like that? And what's the other two's problem anyway? They didn't seem to have any sort of objection."

"Parris and Ryan have been following Zak around like that since the beginning. I've known him longer though. I think the main reason that the headmaster put us together was to keep him in check. He's gotten out of hand lately, though. I think it's the excitement of the tournament."

At this, Heather moved directly next to Ruby. Her smile was very comforting.

"Don't worry about him. I'll be able to keep him check. One of the powers of my aura is that I have the ability to spread a sense of calm to others."

"Well, it's definitely working." Said Yang, sitting down. "I need a nap."

"Thank, you Heather." Said Ruby. "But, how did you all know about what happened? I thought that you guys couldn't watch."

"You guys were the ones that everyone was talking about afterwards. I think you guys are a crowd favorite."

"That's for sure." Replied Xavier. "And I would like to discuss it as well, however the Headmistress has requested that we be back to the inn in a few hours. See you guys!" Xavier and Amy walked out of the room, waving back to them.

"And I've got to get going also." Said Heather. "I'll talk to you all later."

"Well, she's definitely nice." Said Blake as the four of them made their way to the dorm.

"Yeah. I think that we've found a new friend." Replied Ruby. "Anyway, I'm pretty tired. I think I'm going to bed."

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea." Said Yang, barely stifling a yawn. "Night, Sis. Night Blake and Weiss."

"Night you guys." Responded Blake.

All four of them dressed in their sleeping clothes, and soon were sleeping their beds.


End file.
